30th Apr 2026 09:52
(Alliance News) - Glencore PLC on Thursday backed its full-year production guidance, with commodity pricing expected to boost margins amid "dislocations" in global markets as a result of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Shares in the Baar, Switzerland-based mining house were up 2.0% to 564.10 pence on Thursday morning in London, and rose 1.8% to ZAR127.91 in Johannesburg.
Chief Executive Gary Nagle acknowledged the Middle East war on Thursday: "Although the impact of the conflict on our industrial business was limited in the first quarter, recent and emerging impacts are now manifesting, primarily as an increase in input costs, most notably diesel and acid consumption, and the generally weaker USD."
Nonetheless, the CEO said Glencore sees these cost effects being "more than offset" as strong commodity prices support wider margins.
Based on the performance of the Marketing unit in the first quarter, Glencore sees the division's full-year earnings before interest and tax result "comfortably exceeding" the top end of long-term adjusted Ebit guidance, which ranges from USD2.3 billion to USD3.5 billion annually. The company explained that its energy marketing activities have supported fuel supply to mining assets.
Commenting more broadly on the three months ended March 31, Nagle said trading was largely in line with Glencore's expectations. First-quarter output from Glencore's own sources saw copper production rise 19% on-year to 199,600 tonnes, while silver was up 15% to 4.9 million ounces and chrome ore up 3% to 830,000 tonnes.
Cobalt output fell 39% on-year to 5,800 tonnes, "mainly due to the introduction of the DRC's export quota system in late 2025", Glencore said, which will apply to all exports of the mineral, used to make cellphones, from Congo until at least the end of 2027. Glencore said its KCC and Mutanda sites "have sufficient cobalt inventories on hand to utilise their cobalt quotas over the near term", and expects a normalisation in cobalt exports over the next year.
Nickel output was down 9% on-year in the first quarter to 17,200 tonnes, due to a furnace disruption at the Sudsbury project, while zinc and lead both were down 17% to 176,900 tonnes and 41,200 tonnes respectively. Glencore noted that this reflected end of mine life in late 2025 at the Loretta prospect and a lower contribution from Kazzinc.
Gold production declined by 53% to 68,000 ounces, steelmaking coal output fell 22% to 6.5 million tonnes and energy coal was down 2% to 22,900 tonnes.
Glencore reaffirmed existing production targets for 2026 as a whole, eyeing 810,000 to 870,000 tonnes of copper, versus 851,600 tonnes in 2025. It sees zinc output ranging from 700,000 to 740,000 tonnes, versus 969,400 tonnes the year prior, and nickel output between 70,000 and 80,000 tonnes, compared with 71,900 tonnes on-year. Steelmaking coal is targeted between 30 million and 34 million tonnes, up from 32.5 million in 2025, and energy coal between 95 million and 100 million, having reached 98.0 million tonnes the previous year.
By Holly Munks, Alliance News reporter
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