31st Jul 2020 10:36
(Alliance News) - Glencore PLC on Friday said its production took a dive in the first half after the Swiss miner was forced to shut down mines to comply with national lockdowns.
In the first half ended June 30, copper production dropped 11% year-on-year to 588,100 tonnes from 663,000 tonnes. Lead production fell 13% to 127,900 tonnes, cobalt production plunged 33% to 14,300 tonnes, while nickel production was flat at 55,200 tonnes.
Ferrochrome production plunged 42% to 466,000 tonnes. Zinc production, however, was up 3% to 550,100 tonnes from 535,900 tonnes.
Coal production dropped 15% to 58.1 million tonnes. Gold production slipped 9% to 385,000 ounces, silver production dropped 8% to 14.2 million ounces.
"Glencore has delivered an overall strong first-half operating performance amid the unprecedented challenges presented by Covid-19, reflecting both the ability and dedication of our teams to adapt to these difficult conditions. As a responsible operator, our top priority has been to protect the health and safety of our people and the communities that host our businesses, said Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg.
"Although some of our industrial operations were temporarily suspended in line with national and regional guidance, or where our risk assessment determined a suspension was appropriate, the majority of our assets continued to operate relatively normally. I am particularly pleased to report a strong operational performance at Katanga, with its ramp-up on track to achieve design capacity by the end of the year," he added.
The miner noted its realised prices for copper was 4% behind the benchmark at USD5,259 per tonne versus USD5,502 per tonne. Zinc prices were 1% up on its benchmark at USD2,072 per tonne and nickel prices were flat at USD12,477 per tonne.
Swiss firm Glencore, which also has a significant commodities trading unit, said its Marketing unit delivered "robust" counter-cyclical earnings.
Glencore attributed this to a sizeable increase in carried inventory transactions and quantities, although noted the overall dollar value of inventories was somewhat lower than December, due to lower commodity prices.
"A very strong first-half performance allows us to now raise our full year 2020 earnings before interest and taxes expectations to the top end of our USD2.2 billon to USD3.2 billion guidance range," Glasenberg said.
Glasenberg added: "In the near-term, we remain alert to the continuing challenges that Covid-19 presents. While we expect our operating cash flow to remain solid, we are ready to adapt to changing market conditions."
Looking ahead, Glencore left its copper, cobalt, zinc and ferrochrome guidance unchanged.
Coal guidance was dropped to 114 million tonnes from 132 million previously and nickel guidance was lowered to 114,000 tonnes.
Shares in Glencore were 0.4% higher in London on Friday at 177.74 pence each. In Johannesburg, shares were 2.1% higher at ZAR39.50.
By Paul McGowan; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Glencore