Diversified commodity trader and miner Glencore has announced plans to increase its copper production in the coming years after it dropped below 1 million tonnes in 2024.
The company’s CEO Gary Nagle said that it is on a clear path to return to producing 1 million tonnes of copper a year by 2028. Last year, its output fell 6% to 951.6 million tonnes, from 1,010.1 million tonnes in 2023.
“We are now at an inflection point in our production growth outlook, with a step change in our steelmaking coal business, and a clear pathway back to around one million tonnes of copper by 2028, with significant growth potential thereafter,” Nagle noted.
“Based on current production plans for our existing operations, we model a 4% compound annual growth rate to 2028 (in copper equivalents) from 2024.”
According to him, the company was advancing and refining its series of organic copper growth options that could increase copper output by an additional one-million tonnes a year. These projects would come at a weighted average capital intensity of about $15 000/t to $20 000/t of copper-equivalent.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
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