Glencore only remaining bidder to buy Doe Run Peru

Glencore is the only remaining bidder looking to buy Doe Run Peru’s assets as the auction enters its final stage, Metal Bulletin understands.

Glencore is the only remaining bidder looking to buy Doe Run Peru’s assets as the auction enters its final stage, Metal Bulletin understands.

Trafigura had been interested in buying the La Oroya polymetallic smelter and the Cobriza copper mine, but has now pulled out of the running, a source close to the sale said. 

Trafigura and Glencore declined to comment.

Trafigura and the other companies interested in buying the assets have been dissuaded from taking their bids further because of the environmental regulations in the area, the source said.

The new owner of Doe Run Peru would need to invest to bring the mine and smelter up to environmental standards.

Buyers have also been deterred by the uncertainty over new regulations on air quality, which the Ministry of Environment is due to update after giving cities, including La Oroya, an exemption in July 2013 from having to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions to 20 micrograms per cubic metre, local media reports said.

Doe Run Peru went into administration in 2012, and its creditors are in the process of finding a company to buy the assets

Chloe Smith 
chloe.smith@metalbulletin.com
Twitter: ChloeSmith_MB 

What to read next
Fastmarkets wishes to clarify that it accepts data submissions in outright price and as a differential to the Mineral Benchmark Price (HPM)-plus-premium for its Indonesian domestic trade nickel ore price assessments. Fastmarkets is also seeking market feedback on recent changes to the Indonesian government’s HPM specifications.
Own-sourced copper output from Glencore’s African copper assets — KCC and Mutanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo — surged by 68% year on year to 67,900 tonnes over the same period, while Glencore’s cobalt production fell by 39% year on year amid the DRC’s export quota system.
Copper’s long-term outlook is constrained by the industry’s limited ability to bring new supply online fast enough to meet rising demand, with permitting delays, higher capital costs and policy risks slowing project development, industry executives said at the FT Commodities Global Summit on Wednesday April 22.
Capital is flowing back into junior mining, but selectively. Investment is increasingly favouring development‑stage assets with clearer paths to production, supported by government funding and strategic partnerships. While demand for critical minerals underpins the cycle, early‑stage explorers continue to struggle for capital as investors prioritise discipline, ESG alignment and near‑term cash flow.
Copper in concentrate production from Ivanhoe Mines' Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) fell to 61,906 tonnes in the first quarter, down by 54% from 133,120 tonnes a year earlier, with the company now evaluating local third-party concentrate purchases to advance the ramp-up of its on-site smelter, according to an April 13 production release as the market focused its attention on the impact of global sulfuric acid shortages during CESCO Week in Chile from April 13-17.
China's planned sulfuric acid export ban from May 1, historic lows for copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) and a fragmenting 2026 benchmark system dominated CESCO Week 2026 in Santiago from April 13-17.