Glencore 1Q Met Guidance; Backs Full-Year Outlook

By Joe Hoppe

Glencore PLC said Friday that first-quarter production largely met its expectations, with declines across copper, zinc, nickel and coal, and backed its full-year guidance.

The FTSE 100-listed commodity mining and trading company said copper production declined 5% to 244,100 tons, largely due to planned lower grades in line with a pit phasing and delays associated with adverse weather.

Zinc production declined 15% to 205,300 tons, reflecting the disposal of South American zinc operations, and the closure of the Matagami project, along with adverse weather and planned temporary use of lower-grade feedstocks at McArthur River.

Nickel production declined 32% to 20,900 tons, primarily reflecting INO prioritizing third party feed, and coal production fell 6% to 26.9 million tons, largely due to the short term effect of a community blockade and mining around geological anomalies in South Africa.

Ferrochrome production rose 3% to 400,000 tons.

The company retained its full-year production guidance given in December. Copper guidance for 2023 stands at 1.0 million metric tons, plus or minus 30,000 tons.

In addition, Chief Executive Gary Nagle said extrapolating the marketing segment's first-quarter performance, the division's 2023 earnings are on track to exceed the top-end of the long-term guidance range of $2.2 billion-$3.2 billion adjusted earnings before interest and tax.

Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2023 02:39 ET (06:39 GMT)

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