Glencore sees copper production plummet in first half of year

Glencore sees its copper production plummet in the first half of the year Keystone-SDA

Commodities giant Glencore has published its production report for the first half of the year, which was marked by a sharp fall in copper volumes.

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Steelmaking coal, meanwhile, rose sharply following the takeover of Canada’s Elk Valley Resources (EVR).

From January to June, copper production fell by 26% year-on-year to 343.9 kilotonnes. Production is expected to pick up at all mines in the second half of the year, albeit at a slower pace than initially forecast. For the year as a whole, total production is expected to be between 850 and 890 kilotonnes, compared with 850 to 910 kilotonnes previously forecast. In 2024, volumes reached 951.6 kilotonnes.

Nickel production also fell by 17% to 36.6 kilotonnes, as did gold, down 18% to 301,000 ounces.

Conversely, cobalt and zinc rose sharply, by 19% to 18.9 kilotonnes and 12% to 417.2 kilotonnes respectively.

Thermal coal production rose slightly by 2% to 48.3 million tonnes. Steelmaking coal more than quadrupled to 15.7 million tonnes, thanks to the acquisition of Canadian miner Elk Valley Resources (EVR) in July 2024, which alone produced 12.7 million tonnes during the period under review.

With the exception of copper and nickel, Glencore broadly renewed its production targets for the year.

Management also forecast operating profit (Ebit) from trading at CHF1.35 billion for the first half of the year, compared with CHF1.5 billion for the corresponding period of 2024.

The long-term target for trading Ebit, in place since 2017, has been raised to a range of $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion per year, compared with $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion previously.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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