Glencore named founding partner in US strategic minerals reserve

Armenia’s Statistical Committee reported Jan–Jul 2026 molybdenum concentrate output of 10,403.5 tonnes, up 25.2% YoY, while ferromolybdenum production fell 47.4% to 907.2 tonnes. SMM calculates that July concentrate output was about 1,517.5 tonnes, up 22.4% YoY, while ferromolybdenum output declined 27.1% to about 176.0 tonnes. The figures show a widening divergence between upstream concentrate and ferromolybdenum production. Concentrate tonnage represents product mass, not contained molybdenum.

MMG has sanctioned a roughly $900 million expansion of its Khoemacau copper mine in Botswana's Kalahari Copper Belt, including pre-2026 expenditure. The project lifts capacity to about 130,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate per year with over 4 million ounces of silver, via a new 4.5 Mtpa processing plant and three underground mines at Zone 5 North, Mango and Zeta North-East. Total milling capacity exceeds 8.0 Mtpa. 2026 guidance is 48,000 - 53,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, first concentrate is targeted in the first half of 2028. Life-of-mine average C1 cash costs are forecast below $1.60/lb, down from $2.05/lb in mid-2025.

Germany-based secondary metals supplier Metycle has secured a US$150 million asset-backed credit facility from Rivonia Road Capital to expand its sourcing and supply of secondary copper and aluminium. The financing covers the entire physical trade cycle—from supplier payment and material procurement through logistics to final buyer settlement—allowing Metycle to execute larger transactions, move greater volumes of recycled metals and increase supply to industrial buyers and smelters. The significance for the copper scrap market is that the facility directly addresses one of the key constraints in physical scrap trading: working capital and trade finance. Metycle aims to turn fragmented secondary-metal flows into specified, traceable and reliably delivered industrial feedstock. Greater financing capacity allows it to pay suppliers earlier while providing larger and more consistent flows of secondary copper to smelters and industrial consumers. At a time of tight global copper scrap availability, the entry of institutional private credit into secondary-metal trading could strengthen specialised traders' ability to compete for physical scrap supply.