In the face of diminished output levels for copper and zinc in the first nine months of the year, Glencore, the Anglo-Swiss commodity mining and trading company, has affirmed its full-year production guidance for these metals. However, production drops in nickel and ferrochrome have resulted in a lowering of the company’s targets for these materials.
- Glencore produced 735,800 metric tons of copper between January and September, marking a 5% decrease from the same period last year.
- This decline was primarily due to the sale of the Cobar mine in Australia and lower copper by-product production outside of the company’s main copper department.
- Zinc volumes saw a 4% decrease to 672,100 tons.
- There was a sharp drop in nickel production, with a 16% decrease to 68,400 tons.
Ferrochrome:
- Similarly, ferrochrome production experienced a significant decline of 21%, reaching 873,000 tons.
- Coal production, on the other hand, saw a 2% increase from the previous year, rising to 83.9 million tons.
Moving forward, Glencore maintains its full-year targets for copper and zinc, while adjusting its forecasts for nickel to 102,000 tons (down from 112,000 tons) and ferrochrome to 1,200 tons (down from 1,310 tons).