Glencore holds full-year production guidance

Glencore reported a mixed production performance for the first three quarters of the year on Wednesday, with copper, cobalt, zinc, and nickel output generally lower year-on-year, while steelmaking coal saw a significant increase.

The FTSE 100 mining giant said own-sourced copper production was 705,200 tonnes, a 4% decline from the prior year, although quarterly copper production saw a 9% rise to 242,600 tonnes.

That quarterly growth was put down to recovery efforts at the Antapaccay mine, which suffered a geotechnical setback in the first half of the year, alongside higher feed grades at Collahuasi and improved production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Cobalt production fell 18% to 26,500 tonnes due to lower run rates at Mutanda amid weak cobalt prices, and decreased throughput at Kamoto Copper Company.

Zinc output declined 4% to 643,600 tonnes, impacted by a lower copper-zinc mix at Antamina and disruptions from a cyclone at McArthur River.

However, ramp-up activities at Zhairem provided some offset, boosting zinc department output by 5% compared to the prior year.

Nickel production fell 9% to 62,300 tonnes, mainly due to the transition of Koniambo to care and maintenance.

Excluding Koniambo, nickel production increased 18% year-on-year, reflecting improved supply chains and higher output from Murrin Murrin.

Ferrochrome production remained steady at 894,000 tonnes.

Steelmaking coal production surged 113% to 11.1 million tonnes, boosted by Glencore’s acquisition of Canadian steelmaking coal assets from Elk Valley Resources, which contributed 5.7 million tonnes in the quarter.

Conversely, energy coal production declined 7% to 73.1 million tonnes, impacted by planned mine closures, operational moves in Australia, rail limitations in South Africa, and permit delays at Cerrejón.

Glencore maintained its full-year production guidance, with expectations for copper between 950,000 to 1,010,000 tonnes, cobalt at 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes, and zinc within 900,000 to 950,000 tonnes.

“Our full-year 2024 production guidance has again been maintained and reflects the additional steelmaking coal volumes that have contributed to our portfolio since closing of the EVR transaction on 11 July,” said chief executive officer Gary Nagle.

“During the current quarter, key anticipated quarterly sequential production improvements have been achieved, notably at African Copper, Antapaccay, Kazzinc, Murrin Murrin, and Australian energy coal.

“Basis marketing's performance year-to-date, we continue to expect full year marketing adjusted EBIT in the $3bn to $3.5bn range, being around the top end of our long-term $2.2bn to $3.2bn per annum guidance range.”

At 0834 GMT, shares in Glencore were up 2.63% at 415.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.