The BusinessWeek 50 Ranking
24
Phelps Dodge
Copper prices are on a roll, and so is Phoenix-based Phelps Dodge. Strong demand, particularly from construction markets in China, have helped double copper prices in the past two years, to $1.50 a pound. In 2004 the world's largest publicly traded copper producer increased earnings nearly sixtyfold. Next, Phelps Dodge expects to begin an $850 million expansion at its mine in Peru that will triple production, to 300,000 tons per year, by 2007. Phelps Dodge also hopes to finalize federal approvals for a mining site in Safford, Ariz. Profile: the first new U.S. copper mine in 30 years.
Company Info
| 2004 Rank | 362 |
| STOCK INFO | PD |
| Market Value | $10.2 BILLION |
| Total Return | (1-yr.) 24.4%
(3-yr.) 183.0% |
| 2004 sales | $7.1 BILLION |
| Sales Growth | (1-yr.) 71%
(3-yr.) 20.0% |
| Net income | $1 BILLION |
| Net Income Growth | (1-yr.) 5,681%
(3-yr.) NC |
| Net Margin* | 14.8% |
| Return on Equity* | 23.8% |
| Industry | MATERIALS |
| CORPORATE WEB SITE | |
More in S&P 500 Companies Scoreboard >
*Trailing 12 months
Company data as of 2/28/05 provided by Standard & Poor's Compustat
The Materials Sector Keeps Delivering
Metals Lose Their Luster
What's Firing Metals Stocks' Furnace
Company Snapshot
Phelps Dodge Corporation operates as a mining and manufacturing company. It operates through two divisions, Phelps Dodge Mining Company (PDMC) and Phelps Dodge Industries (PDI). PDMC’s copper mines comprise five segments in the United States (Morenci, Bagdad/Sierrita, Miami/Bisbee, Chino/Cobre, and Tyrone) and three segments in South America (Candelaria/Ojos del Salado, Cerro Verde, and El Abra). These segments include open-pit mining, sulfide ore concentrating, leaching, solution extraction, and electrowinning. In addition, they produce gold and silver, and the Bagdad and Sierrita mines also produce molybdenum as by-products. PDMC’s Manufacturing and Sales segment consists of conversion facilities, including smelters, refineries, and rod mills, as well as sales and marketing. It sells copper to others primarily as rod, cathode, or concentrate; and as rod to its Wire and Cable segment. In addition, it smelts and refines copper and produces copper rod on a toll basis. PDMC’s Primary Molybdenum segment consists of the Henderson and Climax mines, and related conversion facilities. This segment produces molybdenum, with mining, roasting, and processing facilities producing molybdenum-based chemical and metallurgical products. In addition, it roasts and/or processes material on a toll basis. PDMC’s Other Mining segment includes worldwide mineral exploration and development programs, a process technology center that directs its processes and develops new technologies, and other ancillary operations. PDI produces engineered products principally for the global energy, telecommunications, transportation, and specialty chemicals sectors. Its Specialty Chemicals segment produces and markets carbon black that increases the service life of tires, hoses, belts, and other products for the rubber industry. It also produces specialty carbon black for other industrial applications, such as pigments for printing, coatings, plastics, and other nonrubber applications. PDI’s Wire and Cable segment produces magnet wire, copper and aluminum energy cables, telecommunications cables, specialty conductors, and other products for sale principally to original equipment manufacturers for use in electrical motors, generators, transformers, medical applications, and public utilities. The company was founded by Anson Greene Phelps in 1834 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
No. of Employees
14,000
Data provided by 
