Glencore copper production fell 7 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier and reduced annual copper production target cobalt production soared

SMM4, March 30-Glencore (Glencore PLC) reported Tuesday that its cobalt production soared and copper production fell in the first quarter of 2019, according to the Market Watch website.

Glencore reported that copper production fell 7 per cent to 320700 tonnes in the three months to March 31 from a year earlier, compared with 345400 tonnes in the first quarter of last year.

Glencore said the decline in copper production was mainly due to a decline in overall metal production in Australia, which had been hit by severe floods in Queensland, and the shutdown of the Mopani project in Zambia had also affected production.

So Glencore (Glencore Plc) cut its full-year copper production target by about 3 per cent, citing safety concerns at Zambia's Mopani copper mine and the shutdown of the smelter, and a series of updated plans for other copper mines have also affected copper production.

So the company expects full-year copper production to be 1.46 million tons, or 30, 000 tons up and down. For the whole year, cobalt production is expected to reach 57000 tons, or 4000 tons up and down.

But Glencore's cobalt production jumped to 10900 tons in the first quarter. Of these, 3500 tons came from the Katanga project in the Congo.

Glencore said zinc production rose 8 per cent to 262300 tonnes in the first quarter, nickel production fell 10 per cent to 27100 tonnes and coal production rose 8 per cent year-on-year to 33.2 million tonnes.

Glencore also cut its production targets for nickel and ferrochromium by 7 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.

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