Glencore's Third-Quarter Output Fell Across Most Metals -- Commodity Comment

By Christian Moess Laursen

Glencore's third-quarter production fell across all metals except gold and coal, with double-digit drops in nickel and ferrochrome, although it said its output of key metals copper, coal and zinc were in line with expectations. Here's what the Anglo-Swiss commodity miner had to say:

On copper:

"Own sourced copper production of 735,800 ton was 34,700 [metric] tons (5%) lower than the comparable 2022 period, reflecting the sale of Cobar [mine in Australia] in June 2023 and lower copper by-product production outside the copper department.

On cobalt:

"Own sourced cobalt production of 32,500 ton was in line with the comparable 2022 period."

On zinc:

"Own sourced zinc production of 672,100 tons was 27,500 tons (4%) lower than the comparable 2022 period, mainly reflecting the 2022 disposals of South American zinc operations (23,600 tons) and the closure of Matagami [mine in Canada] (17,300 tons), offset by stronger production from Kazzinc (Zhairem) [mine in Kazakhstan and Antamina [mine in Peru]."

On nickel:

"Own sourced nickel production of 68,400 tons was 13,200 tons (16%) lower than the comparable 2022 period, primarily reflecting higher integrated nickel operations third party production (versus own sourced), in large part necessitated by the strike at Raglan [in Canada] mine in 2022."

On ferrochrome:

"Attributable ferrochrome production of 873,000 tons was 237,000 tons (21%) lower than the comparable 2022 period, mainly due to planned additional smelter offline days during the 3-month high electricity demand winter season, a period of elevated power prices."

On coal:

"Coal production of 83.9 million tons was broadly in line with the comparable 2022 period."

On guidance:

"Nickel down 10kt (9%) - combination of a longer than expected recovery period following the extended Raglan strike action in 2022, maintenance outages at the Sudbury smelter and a lower full-year revision for Koniambo [mine in New Caledonia]."

"Ferrochrome down 110kt (8%) - lower production in H2 2023, reflecting additional smelter offline days and further curtailments in response to ferrochrome market conditions. Full year chrome ore production is expected to only be modestly below 2022 levels."

Write to Christian Moess Laursen at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 30, 2023 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT)

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