LONDON (Reuters) -Glencore reported lower copper production in the first half on Wednesday, and said it aims to save $1 billion in costs by the end of 2026, as part of a review of its industrial assets.
“A comprehensive review of our industrial asset portfolio…recognised opportunities to streamline our industrial operating structure,” Chief Executive Officer Gary Nagle said in a statement.
He added that he will provide more details at the company’s half-year results on August 6.
Glencore’s shares were up around 1% by 0815 GMT.
The company reported a 26% drop in first-half copper production to 343,900 metric tons, mostly because of declining grades, and it tightened its full-year forecast for 2025 to 850,000 to 890,000 tons from 850,000 to 910,000 tons previously, saying it expected higher output in coming months.
“We see the miss on copper production to be a negative, the cost savings and marketing guidance upgrade should provide some offset,” said analysts at Citi.
Last year, the miner and trader produced around 952,000 tons of the metal used in building wiring, electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy plants and data centres.
It said it will close its last two copper mines in Australia’s Mount Isa, and has agreed to sell its struggling copper refinery in the Philippines, having kept it on care and maintenance for months.
“Glencore has put a strong case forward for talking up forward earnings (significant second half recovery in production with guidance tightened and raising long term marketing guidance) but the first half was light with production,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Ben Davis.
“Copper in particular has a sharp 50% recovery into the second half that expects to be delivered,” he added.
Glencore also revised its long-term full-year marketing earnings before interest and taxes to $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion this year, from $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion previously, after the completion of the sale of its agribusiness Viterra in July, which contributed around $200 million to it.
In the first half, profit at its trading division reached $1.35 billion.
Glencore is the world’s second-largest cobalt-producing company, mining 18,900 tons of the battery metal in the first half, up 19% from the same period last year.
Glencoredeclared force majeure on some deliveries of cobalt from Democratic Republic of Congo, sources had told Reuters.
Glencore’s first-half thermal coal production stood at 48.3 million tons from 47.2 million tons a year.
The company is one of the largest producers and exporters of thermal coal, mining 99.6 million tons in 2024.
(Reporting by Clara Denina, Editing by Louise Heavens, Michael Perry and Barbara Lewis)
