Glencore has been hammered by export rail constraints in South Africa, with its export thermal coal production taking a knock in the three months to September although output of copper was higher.
The diversified resources group’s overall energy coal production of 73.1 million tons for the quarter was down 7% on the comparable 2023 period.
Glencore yesterday said this was a reflection of “the progressive impact of scheduled mine closures, longwall moves in Australia in 2024, export rail constraints in South Africa and permit delays” at Cerrejón.
Glencore’s South African thermal production at 12m tons for the period under sagged by 1.3m tons or 10% compared to the same period a year earlier. The miner said it was prepared to ramp up production should Transnet restore rail capacity.
“(This was) mainly reflecting measures implemented in 2023-24 to reduce coal production due to export rail capacity constraints. Should additional rail capacity be restored, production rates could be increased,” said Glencore.
Of the 12m tons produced in thermal coal by Glencore during the period, 8.2m tones for the export market slumped from 10.4m tons in 2023.
However, Glencore raised thermal coal for the domestic market by 31% to 3.8m tons.
In terms of prices, Glencore received a full onboard price of $104 (around R1 830) per ton for its South African thermal coal during the period, down 15% compared to the $123 per ton it received in 2023.
“During the current quarter, key anticipated quarterly sequential production improvements have been achieved, notably at African Copper, Antapaccay, Kazzinc, Murrin Murrin and Australian energy coal,” said Glencore CEO, Gary Nagle.
African Copper raised production by about 6 000 tons, while Australian energy coal was stronger by 3.6m tons. Glencore’s own sourced copper production of 705 200 tons was, however, 2% below the comparable 2023 period.
“Sequential quarterly copper production increased by 19 700 tons (9%) to 242 600 tons, reflecting progressive recovery at Antapaccay following a geotechnical event in H1, higher feed grades at Collahuasi and improved DRC production levels,” said the company.
The company’s own sourced cobalt production of 26 500 tons was also 6 000 tons, or 18%, lower than the comparable 2023 period, reflecting planned lower run-rates at Mutanda in the current weak cobalt pricing environment and lower throughput and cobalt grades at KCC.
Merafe Resources CEO Zanele Matlala said in August that the company, together with Glencore, was looking at ways to mitigate power supply, energy costs and logistical constraints impacting mining companies in the country.
All operational smelters had been brought into production during the quarter to September, said Merafe last month, helping to drive up production for the quarter to September and subsequently for the nine month period under review.
Merafe’s attributable ferrochrome production from the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture in the third quarter ended 30 September 2024 was 76 000 tons.
Glencore said yesterday that its attributable ferrochrome production of 894 000 tons for the period under review was broadly in line with the comparable 2023 period.
