Glencore zinc output down 31% in H1; ups copper guidance

Glencore reported a drop in production in the first half – with the exception of nickel and agricultural products – as expected, and lifted its full-year copper guidance.

The miner and commodity trader said copper production was down 4% on the first half of last year to 703,000 tonnes, due to the previously-announced curtailments at its African operations, partly offset by generally higher grades in South America.

Zinc output came in at 506,500 tonnes, which was 31% lower due to previously-announced cuts in Australia in Peru.

Coal production fell 14% to 58.8m tonnes, reflecting production curtailments, the disposal of Optimum Coal, the scheduled closures of two mines and some volume reductions and restrictions in Colombia.

Meanwhile, the company’s share of oil production was 18% lower at 4.4m barrels due to expected depletion rates and the preservation of the resource for an improved price/margin environment.

However, agricultural products processed/produced increased 43% to 6.4m tonnes following the acquisition of two crush plants in the second half of last year, stronger crush volumes in Argentina and an earlier start to sugarcane processing in Brazil.

Nickel production was up 17% to 57,100 tonnes, thanks to the increased treatment of own feeds, following the planned Sudbury smelter shutdown in 2015.

Glencore upped its copper production guidance for this year by 20,000 tonnes to between 1.41m and 1.43m tonnes.

The group cut its coal guidance for the year by 5m tonnes to between 125m and 128m due in part to lower output from South African mines.