20th Oct 2026 09:02
(Alliance News) - Anglo American PLC on Tuesday described its operational performance for the first nine months of 2026 as "resilient", and added its planned merger with Teck Resources Ltd is on track.
The London-based diversified miner reaffirmed its annual production guidance and noted progress in the planned sale of assets, including its coal and diamond businesses.
For the nine months that ended September 30, copper production fell 1.3% to 519,000 tonnes from 526,000 tonnes a year earlier. Copper output for the third quarter declined 4.9% to 175,000 tonnes from 184,000 tonnes.
Anglo American said record snowfall and related unplanned maintenance later in the third quarter hurt copper production in Chile, while strong by-product credits and cost performance saw Copper Peru unit cost guidance improved to 50 cents per pound, from 65 cents previously.
For nine months, premium iron ore production was 44.4 million tonnes, down 2.8% from 45.7 million. Premium iron ore output for the third quarter dropped 3.5% to 13.8 million tonnes from 14.3 million.
The Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil benefited from higher plant availability, while Kumba Iron Ore Ltd's tie-in of its first ultra-high-dense-media-separation module reduced production as planned, albeit with sales largely unaffected as stockpiles were drawn down.
In a separate filing, Kumba reported that its iron ore production was 25.2 million tonnes for the nine months that ended September 30, down 8.4% from 27.5 million a year before.
Kumba iron ore output for the third quarter was down 15% to 7.5 million tonnes, from 8.8 million in the second quarter, and fell 18% from 9.2 million tonnes in the third quarter last year.
Anglo American also reported that manganese ore production surged 31% to 2.7 million tonnes for nine months from 2.1 million. Manganese ore output for the third quarter rose 5.9% to 1.0 million tonnes from 973,000 tonnes a prior year.
"Operational performance was resilient across the business, continuing our momentum from the first half of the year despite extreme winter weather in Chile," Anglo American Chief Executive Officer Duncan Wanblad said.
Anglo American said its proposed merger with Teck Resources Ltd continues to progress and integration planning is now at an advanced stage.
"We continue to engage constructively with China's anti-trust regulator, with this being the final outstanding regulatory milestone required for completion," Wanblad said, noting that the deal completion timing by March 2027 remains unchanged.
Anglo American is in the process of selling its steelmaking coal, nickel and diamond businesses as part of its simplification strategy.
The miner said the sale of its steelmaking coal unit in Australia to Dhilmar Ltd for up to USD3.87 billion in cash is on track to complete by the first quarter of 2027, while it continues to work through the European Commission's regulatory approval process for the agreed sale of its nickel business.
At De Beers, the group said it continued to work towards a transaction in a challenging market, having taken decisive action to protect cash and preserve value.
Diamond production for nine months rose 21% to 21.7 million carats from 17.9 million, Anglo said. But third-quarter diamond output fell 12% to 6.8 million carats from 7.7 million, year-on-year.
Steelmaking coal production was up 4.8% to 6.5 million tonnes for nine months from 6.2 million, while output for the third quarter soared 53% to 2.9 million tonnes from 1.9 million.
Nickel production dropped 2.7% for nine months to 28,600 tonnes from 29,400, while third-quarter output rose 2.7% to 10,400 tonnes from 10,100.
Looking ahead, Anglo American largely maintained its production guidance for 2026.
It kept its annual copper production guidance of between 700,000 tonnes and 760,000 tonnes in 2026, from 695,000 tonnes in 2025.
Premium iron ore guidance also remains unchanged at between 55 million tonnes and 59 million tonnes in 2026, from 60.8 million tonnes in 2025.
It raised diamond production guidance for 2026 to between 25 million carats and 28 million carats from a range of 21 million carats to 26 million. In 2025, production was 21.7 million carats in 2025.
Shares in Anglo American were up 0.6% to ZAR853.30 on Tuesday morning in Johannesburg. They were up 0.2% to 3,894.00 pence in London. Kumba shares were up 2.6% to ZAR220.93 in Johannesburg.
By Artwell Dlamini, Alliance News senior reporter South Africa
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