5 Biggest Copper Companies in the World

In this article, we discuss the 5 biggest copper companies in the world. To read the industry analysis, you can go directly to the 15 Biggest Copper Companies in the World.

5. Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Market Cap as of November 25: $71.1 billion

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) is a Brazilian metals and mining company. It is also the country’s biggest logistics operator. Apart from the production of copper, manganese, ferroalloys, potash, kaolin, bauxite, and cobalt, the company also operates several hydroelectric plants in Brazil.

On November 23, Deutsche Bank analyst Liam Fitzpatrick upgraded Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) to Buy from Hold with a $20 price target, up from $19. According to the analyst, the 30% decline from the YTD high creates an entry point for investors “with sector-leading shareholder returns, medium-term growth optionality, and low reinvestment needs.”

Here is what GMO LLC had to say about Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“Let’s look at Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world’s largest iron ore producer, as a case study for how shareholders can be rewarded. Vale’s stock price is about where it was at the beginning of last year. Despite the market’s lack of enthusiasm, the company generated about $20 billion of free cash flow last year. Not bad for a company with a market cap of a little over $100 billion and no substantive debt as of the end of March. 4 What did the company do with all that cash? Last year, Vale paid out about $9 billion in regularly scheduled dividends and distributed another $10 billion between extra dividends and share repurchases. Combined with dividends distributed in the first quarter of this year and a recently announced share repurchase, Vale has returned or announced the return of over $33 billion since the beginning of last year, almost a 32% yield relative to the market cap of the company. Not a bad way to win.”