Glencore Sees Copper, Cobalt Demand Rebounding; Is Less Certain on Zinc -- Commodity Comment

By Will Horner

Glencore PLC scrapped its dividend Thursday as its results showed a loss for the first half of the year after the coronavirus pandemic hit demand and prices for the commodities it mines. However, the miner said demand for copper and cobalt showed positive signs of recovery.

Here is what Glencore had to say about the outlook for copper, cobalt and zinc.

Copper:

Glencore said it mined 588,100 metric tons of copper in the first half of the year, 11% less than during the same period of 2019.

Global mine supply would likely continue to be hurt by the coronavirus, with new projects likely to experience delays while aging equipment and declining ore grades were also likely to crimp global supply, the miner said.

A rebound in demand, led by Chinese factories, would likely continue, "supported by significant economic stimulus measures being undertaken globally," the miner said.

Cobalt:

The two key areas of cobalt demand, lithium-ion batteries for mobile phones and electric vehicles, looked promising, Glencore said in its report.

There were indications that the harm done by the pandemic to the mobile-phone sector would be less than feared, the miner said. Measures undertaken by the Chinese government to subsidize electric vehicle sales should support demand in the second half of the year, it said.

"The growing momentum evident across the [electric-vehicle] sector, together with a recovery in mobile-phone demand, points to higher future cobalt demand," Glencore said.

Glencore's own mines produced 14,300 metric tons of cobalt in the first half of the year, 33% less than during the same period in 2019.

Zinc:

On zinc, Glencore said it was still too early to tell what the metal's supply balance would look like this year, with the scale of the pandemic's effect on supply and demand still unknown.

"The largest uncertainty remains the final magnitude of the reduction in zinc demand and 2020's resulting metal balance," Glencore said.

Glencore's own operations mined 550,100 tons of Zinc in the first half of 2020, a 3% rise on the first half of 2019, the report said.

Write to Will Horner at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 06, 2020 07:12 ET (11:12 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.