Glencore's 2021 copper production falls 5% on year; cobalt output up 14%

Glencore copper production dropped 5% year on year in 2021 to 1.2 million mt, due to the disposal of its Mopani operation, lower grades at Antapaccay and lower copper by-products from older zinc and nickel mines, the company said in its full year production report released Feb. 2.

However, cobalt output jumped 14% on the year to 31,300 mt after Glencore initiated the limited restart of Mutanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The operating environment remained challenging in 2021... Maintaining production in 2021 became increasingly important as many of our products, so crucial for decarbonization, energy supply and industrial output, saw higher levels of demand," Glencore CEO Gary Nagle said.

"Overall, our operations largely performed in line with guidance expectations," he added.

The 2021 levels were slightly below the higher copper and cobalt production forecasts of 1.22 million mt and 35,000 mt, respectively, announced in a December investor update on the back of strong production at Katanga and the Mutanda mine coming back online.

Glencore also upped its forecasts for 2022 in December, saying that the time that it forecast copper production at 1.15 million mt in 2022, 1.18 million mt in 2023, and 1.12 million mt in 2024.

Cobalt production was forecast at 48,000 mt in 2022, and 50,000 mt/year in 2023 and 2024.

Glencore retained the 2022 forecasts in the full-year report.

Zinc & nickel production down

Glencore's production of zinc fell 4% year on year to 1.1 million mt, due to the expected decline of the Maleevsky mine in Kazakhstan, a slower than expected ramp-up of the Zhairem mine, lower grades at the Kidd operation and the Mount Isa mine producing additional metal from ore stockpile drawdowns in the base period, the company said.

Nickel output for 2021 dropped 7% on the year to 102,300 mt after a long scheduled statutory shutdown at Murrin Murrin, which also had maintenance issues.

The zinc and nickel 2022 production guidance were kept at around 1.11 million mt and 115,000 mt, respectively.

In the December investor update, Glencore said nickel production was expected to total 120,000 mt in 2023, and 135,000 mt in 2024, with zinc outout at 1.11 million mt in 2023 and 915,000 mt in 2024.

Production of lead also decreased by 14% to 222,300 mt, with no 2022 guidance given.

The only other metal besides cobalt that saw a year on year increase was ferrochrome, with production up 43% from 2020 to 1.5 million mt. Glencore said it expected to produce around 1.46 million mt of ferrochrome in 2022, with 1.48 million mt/year expected in 2023 and 2024.

Its output of precious metals gold and silver were also lower on the year at 31.5 million oz of silver, down 4% from 2020, and 916,000 oz of gold, down 12%.

Coal output lower

Overall coal production fell 3% on the year to 103.3 million mt, which Glencore attributed to Prodeco in Colombia being on care and maintenance status, lower domestic power demand and export rail capacity constraints in South Africa, although it said the was offset by higher production at Cerrejon in Colombia, after a COVID-19 suspension and strike in 2020.

Coking coal production for the year jumped 20% year on year to 9.1 million mt, although semi-soft putout fell 2% to 4.5 million mt and thermal coal production dropped 5% to 89.7 million mt.

Glencore said it expected to produce around 121 million mt of coal in 2022, although it did not provide a breakdown between the different types.

The company started 2022 by completing the acquisition of the two-thirds of the Cerrejon col mine it did not already own and also completed the disposal of its Ernest Henry copper mine.

Glencore aims to be a net-zero emissions business across its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2050.