The coronavirus “took the legs out” of copper’s rally and is rattling everyone from miners to equipment suppliers, according to the head of the world’s largest publicly traded producer of the metal.
“Everybody is on edge, and they’re taking it very seriously and the uncertainty around it,” Richard Adkerson, CEO of Freeport-McMoRan, said Monday in an interview at the BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference in Florida.
The virus has dented demand for copper, quashing hopes for a rebound this year. Before the outbreak, traders were betting that a pickup in manufacturing and easing trade tensions would help push the metal higher. Adkerson said that while Freeport hasn’t had significant issues with its supply chain yet, shutdowns in industries in China are causing a buildup of exchange stockpiles.