Glencore meets forecasts with 13% rise in H1 copper production

13th Aug 2014 07:38

- Copper output up 13%, in line with forecasts- Coal, ferrochrome and oil production improves- Zinc and nickel volumes fallMining and trading giant Glencore gave a mixed production report for the first half of 2014 with output of some commodities improving while that of others declined. However, production of copper and coal - the company's biggest contributors to profit - both increased in the first six months of the year, compared with the same period in 2013. Ferrochrome and oil output also rose, but declines were seen in zinc and nickel. The company, which makes nearly half of its profit from copper, said own sourced copper production was up 13% year-on-year at 741,000 tonnes in the first half. The improvement was driven by the ramp-up of the Mutanda project and increased production at Collahuasi.This was in line with analysts' forecasts that ranged from 739,000-754,000.Coal output was up 5% at 71.2m tonnes, helped by productivity improvements and ongoing expansion projects in Australian therm coal. Meanwhile, a 32-day strike hit the prior year's results.Meanwhile, ferrochrome production rose 16% to 652,000 tonnes, while oil production jumped 41% to 14m barrels.Zinc production fell 11% to 650,400 tonnes with the Perseverance and Brunswick mines having depleted their reserves in June 2013. Nickel output declined by 8% to 49,100 tonnes with the XNA (Sinclair and Cosmos) and Falcondo mines now all being placed on care and maintenance. BC