Commodities Glencore to mine less copper in 2025
The commodities trader and mining group Glencore achieved its production targets for the most important raw materials in the 2025 financial year. While copper production declined year-on-year, there was a clear upturn in the second half of the year.
29.01.2026, 09:40
SDA
Copper production in 2025 amounted to around 851,600 tons, 11% below the previous year's figure, as Glencore announced in its production report on Thursday. The decline was primarily due to lower grades and recoveries in connection with mining planning, particularly at the Collahuasi, Antamina and Antapaccay mines.
However, copper production increased significantly in the second half of the year and was almost 50 percent higher than in the first half of the year, boosted by higher copper grades at KCC, Antamina and Antapaccay, according to the report.
Meanwhile, oil production fell by 25 percent to around 3 million barrels of oil equivalent. Glencore attributes this to the natural decline in production and the temporary curtailment of part of the production in Equatorial Guinea.
Mixed coal production
Developments in the coal business were mixed. Production of steel coal increased significantly thanks to the acquisition of Elk Valley Resources in the previous year, while Australian activities remained stable. Overall, production increased by 63% to 32.5 million tons.
In contrast, the production of energy coal fell by 2 percent to 98 million tons. The main reason for this was the voluntary production cuts in Colombian Cerrejón announced in March 2025. These were partially offset by a stronger performance from the Australian business.
More zinc mined
Production of metals also varied. Zinc production rose by 7% year-on-year, supported by higher grades at the Antamina mine and higher production at McArthur River.
By contrast, in-house production of nickel fell by 7%, partly due to lower production volumes at INO and Murrin Murrin. Cobalt production also fell slightly by 5%, as Glencore prioritized copper production in light of export restrictions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Targets confirmed
Glencore is sticking to its long-term target for adjusted marketing EBIT. For 2025, the company expects adjusted EBIT from the purchase and sale of raw materials to be around the middle of the long-term forecast range. This was raised in July to between USD 2.3 and 3.5 billion per year.
Glencore plans to present its preliminary annual figures for 2025 on February 19.
