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Miner and trader Glencore lowered its copper output forecast for next year as production challenges at the Collahuasi mine in Chile continue to weigh on plans to ramp up output, it said on Wednesday December 3.
The Swiss commodities giant said copper output in 2026 would be around 840,000 tonnes, down from initial plans to produce about 930,000 tonnes. Copper output this year is expected to be around 850,000 tonnes, Glencore said.
The Collahuasi mine, which Glencore jointly owns with peer Anglo American, has been affected by lower grades and inadequate water supplies. Glencore and its industry rivals are struggling to ramp up copper output because of declining grades, difficult geological conditions and, more recently, fatal accidents that have disrupted operations.
The challenges have raised concerns over future supply of the metal, spurring a price rally in copper, which is key for electric vehicles, industrial use and AI data centers.
Fastmarkets calculated copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific at $(66.40) per tonne on Friday November 28 from $(65.40) per tonne a week earlier.
The index, which represents the midpoint between smelter and trader buying levels, has been in negative territory since mid-December 2024 as smelters scramble for supplies of concentrates in a tighter market.
Still, Glencore forecasts copper output rebounding to about 930,000 tonnes in 2027 and reaching a long-held target of 1 million tonnes in 2028 as production at Collahuasi recovers.
Copper output could reach 1.6 million tonnes by 2035, helped by increased production at its African mines as well as the restart of the Alumbrera mine in 2028 and growth projects in Latin America, Glencore said.
Alumbrera is forecast to start commercial production in the first half of 2028, producing about 75,000 tonnes of copper, 317,000 ounces of gold and 1,000 tonnes of molybdenum.
“We have a clear pathway for our base copper business to exceed 1 million tonnes of annual production by the end of 2028, with a target to produce about 1.6 million tonnes by 2035, which would make Glencore one of the largest copper producers in the world,” Glencore chief executive officer Gary Nagle said.
Glencore also said its zinc output is forecast to fall to between 700,000-740,000 tonnes next year from 950,000-975,000 tonnes this year.
Thereafter, zinc output will stay around 720,000 tonnes per year as some mines, including Antamina, gradually reduce production as they run out of commercially viable ore, Glencore said.
Fastmarkets’ twice-monthly assessment of zinc spot concentrate TC, cif China declined by $10-20 to $70-100 per tonne on Friday.
Canadian miner Teck Resources said in October that its zinc concentrates output will gradually start to decline from 2026 as its Red Dog mine in Alaska nears the end of its life.
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