Miner Freeport-McMoRan lowers first-quarter gold sales forecast

(Reuters) - Miner Freeport-McMoRan lowered its forecast for first-quarter gold sales on Monday, after shipment timing issues in Indonesia led to a deferral of a portion of its quarterly production to future periods.

Freeport operates Indonesia's Grasberg, one of the world's largest gold and copper mines, and had been building a smelter in the country as part of an operating agreement with Jakarta officials. That smelter was damaged by a fire last year and was shut down.

However, Freeport said it received regulatory approvals on March 17, and had resumed concentrate export shipments from Indonesia, which had been temporarily restricted.

The company said it expects first-quarter gold sales to be roughly 100,000 ounces below its prior forecast of 225,000 ounces.

Freeport added that the average realized price for copper is expected to be roughly $4.40 per pound in the first quarter, compared with $3.94 per pound it realized a year earlier.

The miner will release its quarterly results on April 25. Analysts expect the company to post an adjusted profit of 22 cents per share for the first quarter, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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