Glencore (LON:GLEN) nudged higher in early London trade on Wednesday after lifting its long-term marketing earnings forecast, even as first-half production data delivered a mixed bag across its sprawling mining portfolio.
The commodities giant saw own-sourced copper output plunge 26% to 343,900 tonnes, a drop blamed on expected lower grades and recoveries from mine sequencing. Still, copper-equivalent production climbed 5%, thanks largely to the addition of Elk Valley Resources’ steelmaking coal output, which surged from 3.4 million tonnes to 15.7 million tonnes.
Elk Valley, 77% owned by Glencore since July last year, accounted for 12.7 million tonnes alone. Energy coal output rose modestly, while cobalt and zinc both registered double-digit growth. Lead inched up slightly.
Gold and nickel were down sharply, while ferrochrome production fell 28%, hit by weaker smelting margins. Silver output was flat.
Despite the uneven mining performance, Glencore lifted its marketing EBIT guidance to a range of $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion annually, citing a reshaped portfolio and the sale of its Viterra agriculture stake to Bunge. The deal handed Glencore a 16.4% stake in the merged Bunge-Viterra group and $900 million in cash.
The miner trimmed its full-year copper output guidance slightly and lowered forecasts for nickel, while lifting energy coal guidance and narrowing the zinc range. A cobalt export ban in the Democratic Republic of Congo has forced Glencore to stockpile material for now, with plans to sell later.
CEO Gary Nagle said the company had made “significant progress” restructuring its industrial operations to improve efficiency and focus, and positioned itself for “value accretive growth” in the medium term.
Shares opened 1% higher as investors weighed the stronger marketing outlook against continued production volatility.