Glencore Cuts 2022 Guidance for Copper, Cobalt, Zinc -- Update

By Jaime Llinares Taboada

Glencore PLC on Thursday cut 2022 production guidance for copper, cobalt and zinc, and raised it for nickel and ferrochrome.

The commodity mining and trading giant reduced copper guidance by 3% to around 1.11 million metric tons, and cobalt by 6% to 45,000 tons, because of temporary geotechnical constraints at the Katanga mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And, due to a slower than expected ramp-up at the Zhairem project in Kazakhstan, the 2022 outlook for zinc production was dwarfed by 9% to 1.01 million tons.

Conversely, nickel guidance has been raised by 3% to 118,000 tons, and ferrochrome by 3% to 1.50 million tons, reflecting first-quarter performance. Coal guidance was unchanged at 121 million tons, the company said.

In addition, Chief Executive Gary Nagle said its first-quarter marketing segment performance would see that division's 2022 earnings comfortably exceeding the long-term guidance range of $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion adjusted earnings before interest and tax.

In the first quarter, Glencore reported that its copper production fell 14% on year to 257,800 tons, and cobalt jumped 43% to 9,700 tons. Zinc dropped 15% to 241,500 tons and lead was also 15% lower at 46,800 tons. Nickel rose 22% to 30,700 tons, and ferrochrome slipped 3% to 387,000 tons.

Gold and silver production fell 16% to 189,000 ounces and 6.5 million ounces, respectively. Coal output rose 16% to 28.5 million tons, and oil increased 40% to 1.50 million oil-equivalent barrels, the company said.

"Production in Q1 2022 reflects a number of temporary impacts, including geotechnical challenges at Katanga and Covid-19 absenteeism, particularly in Australia," Mr. Nagle said.

Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2022 03:21 ET (07:21 GMT)

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