Glencore (LSE:GLEN) repeated 2026 full-year marketing guidance on Thursday, telling investors it expects adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) from its marketing division to exceed $5 billion.
The Swiss-based diversified miner and commodities trader said the upgrade follows a methodology update it communicated on 2 October, as third-quarter production from its mining operations came in largely in line with expectations.
Chief executive Gary Nagle said the quarter was a strong one operationally, noting that after adjusting for the Mount Isa copper closure and the Kidd mine disposal, year-to-date copper production ran 12% ahead of the comparable 2025 period.
Own-sourced copper output reached 201,600 tonnes in the third quarter, up 2% on the second quarter, taking the year-to-date total to 598,600 tonnes, 3% above the same period in 2025.
Glencore attributed the copper gain to higher mining rates and improved grades at its African Copper operations and stronger grades at Antamina, which more than offset the loss of Mount Isa and Kidd output and lower production at Antapaccay and Collahuasi.
Zinc told a different story: own-sourced production of 547,200 tonnes year-to-date was 23% below the same period in 2025, largely because Lady Loretta reached the end of its mine life in late 2025 and because Antamina is now running lower zinc grades under a planned mine sequencing shift toward copper.
Cobalt output fell even further, down 52% year-to-date to 13,700 tonnes, which Glencore linked to the ongoing Democratic Republic of Congo export quota regime and a continued prioritisation of copper processing; the company said cobalt contained in mixed ore is increasingly being held in solution rather than converted to saleable hydroxide, with value to be realised as export rules evolve.
Read more about Glencore
- 05/08/26Glencore earnings soar amid energy market disruption
- 29/07/26Glencore holds copper and zinc guidance despite Kidd mine sale
- 18/05/26Glencore notes Chile tribunal sets aside Collahuasi environmental authorisation
Glencore also resumed ferrochrome smelting at Boshoek in September and at Wonderkop in October, following the earlier restart at Lion, lifting attributable ferrochrome production 29% quarter-on-quarter.
Full-year 2026 production guidance across key commodities is unchanged from prior guidance, with zinc and energy coal expected to land toward the upper end of their ranges, copper and steelmaking coal toward the lower end, and nickel around the middle.
"We are pleased to report a strong third quarter production performance, where our key assets largely performed in line with expectations and previously communicated guidance," Nagle said.