Rising industrial and clean-energy demand for copper should drive the performance of stocks such as Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX). But which of these two stocks is a better buy now? Read more to find out.Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates. On the other hand, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) engages in mining mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. The company primarily explores copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, other metals, and oil and gas.
Despite concerns over Chinese copper consumption in the short term due to real estate troubles and power shortages, copper demand is expected to remain high owing to growth in infrastructure investment in the United States and global initiatives to address climate change. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed on November 15 is expected to boost the demand for copper and other industrial metal products. Therefore, both SCCO and FCX should benefit.
FCX has gained 7.8% over the past month, while SCCO has a negative return. Also, FCX’s 43.1% gain year-to-date is significantly higher than SCCO’s negative return. Moreover, FCX is the clear winner with a 58.2% gain versus SCCO’s negative return in the past year.