Glencore sees nine-month copper output rise 8%
Anglo-Swiss commodities giant Glencore saw an 8% increase in copper production in the first three quarters of 2014, but reported mixed output from its other operations.
Glencore, which trades and mines a range of commodities, generated three-quarters of group adjusted operating profits from its industrial activities in the first half. Activities from the metals and minerals division account for the bulk of industrial profits, with copper being the largest contributor in that unit.
Copper output totalled 1.15m tonnes in the nine months to 30 September, up from 81,900 tonnes on the comparable period the year before.
Growth was driven by the ramp-up at its Mutanda and Katanga mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as higher production from Collahuasi, its Chilean joint venture with Anglo American.
Elsewhere, the company's zinc assets saw production fall 6% year-on-year to 997,700 tonnes mainly due to the end of mine closures of Perseverance and Brunswick in June 2013.
Nickel output was 1% lower at 75,000 tonnes as a result of the impact of the Falcondo, Cosmos and Sinclair mines, which were placed into care and maintenance. Ferrochrome production rose 5% to 939,000 tonnes.
In the energy division, own-sourced coal output increased 7% to 11.4m tonnes, helped by higher production at Australia thermal coal.
Meanwhile, oil output jumped 50% to 5.1m barrels after the start of production at Alen in Equatorial Guinea and Badila in Chad last year. It share of volumes in Chad also increased due to the $1.35bn takeover of Caracal Energy earlier in 2014.
In a brief statement about its marketing arm, Glencore said that trading "continues to perform in line with our plans".