Glencore cuts 2015 capex ceiling to $6bn

Glencore has cut its maximum industrial capex for 2015 to $6 billion, compared with the $6.5-6.8 billion announced in February.

Glencore has cut its maximum industrial capex for 2015 to $6 billion, compared with the $6.5-6.8 billion announced in February.

The miner’s industrial capex was $3 billion in the first six months of the year, the company said in its production report for the period.

In production guidance included in the report, Glencore set a full-year 2015 ferro-chrome production target of 1.45-1.5 million tonnes, up from 1.3 million tonnes in 2014.

Glencore’s ferro-chrome production increased 16% year-on-year in the first half of 2015 on greater output from its Lion 2 smelter.

Full-year 2015 zinc production is expected to increase to 1.52-1.57 million tonnes, up from 1.39 million tonnes in 2014.

Copper production guidance has been set at 1.5-1.55 million tonnes in 2015, roughly flat on the 1.546 million tonnes in 2014. Copper production fell 3% in the first half of 2015 as a result of lower-grade material and maintenance.

Lead production is expected to increase to 335,000-360,000 tonnes in 2015. In 2014, about 308,000 tonnes of lead was produced.

Nickel production guidance has been set at 98,000-108,000 tonnes for 2015. The company produced about 101,000 tonnes of nickel in 2014.

The table below shows the midpoint of each production guidance range against full-year production in 2014.

Glencore’s production guidance for full-year 2015, as of August 2015 

  2014                 production
Tonnes (000)      
High Low Midpoint % change
Copper 1,546 1,500 1,550 1,525 -1.36%
Zinc 1,387 1,520 1,570 1,545 11.39%
Lead 308 335 360 347.5 12.83%
Nickel 101 98 108 103 1.98%
Ferro-chrome 1,295 1,450 1,500 1,475 13.90%

Charlotte Radford 
charlotte.radford@metalbulletin.com
Twitter: @CRadford_MB 

What to read next
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of the publication of several US base metal price assessments to a monthly basis, including MB-PB-0006 lead 99.97% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-SN-0036 tin 99.85% premium, in-whs Baltimore; MB-SN-0011 tin 99.85% premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-NI-0240 nickel 4x4 cathode premium, delivered Midwest US and MB-NI-0241 nickel briquette premium, delivered Midwest US.
The news that President-elect Donald Trump is considering additional tariffs on goods from China as well as on all products from US trading partners Canada and Mexico has spurred alarm in the US aluminium market at a time that is usually known to be calm.
Unlike most other commodities, cobalt is primarily a by-product – with 60% derived from copper and 38% from nickel – so how will changes in those markets change the picture for cobalt in the coming months following a year of price weakness and oversupply in 2024?
Copper recycling will become increasingly critical as the world transitions to cleaner energy systems, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a special report published early this week.
Fastmarkets proposes to lower the frequency of its assessments for MB-AL-0389 aluminium low-carbon differential P1020A, US Midwest and MB-AL-0390 aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product US Midwest. Fastmarkets also proposes to extend the timing window of these same assessments to include any transaction data concluded within up to 18 months.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on its non-ferrous and industrial minerals methodologies, via an open consultation process between October 8 and November 6, 2024. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.