Glencore’s copper output up 15%, sees strong $3.3B marketing EBIT

Glencore said on Wednesday first-half copper production rose 15% on higher grades at key operations, while its marketing unit is expected to generate about $3.3 billion in adjusted core earnings, putting it on track to far exceed the top end of its annual guidance.

The Swiss-based commodities trader and miner produced 397,000 metric tons of copper in the first six months of the year, up from 343,900 tons in the same 2025 period, driven by improved grades at its African operations and at its Antamina mine in Peru.

It maintained its full-year production guidance at 810,000 and 870,000 tons.

The marketing business is headed for another bumper year, with first-half adjusted EBIT of about $3.3 billion already near the top end of its annual guidance range of $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion.

Cobalt production fell 46% year-on-year to 10,200 tons in the first half as export quotas in the Democratic Republic of Congo continued to constrain shipments. Glencore said it prioritized copper production, deferring some cobalt output for processing and sale once export restrictions ease.

The DRC suspended cobalt exports in 2025 to support prices after the battery metal fell to nine-year lows, later replacing the ban with an export quota system in October.

Glencore reports first-half results on August 5 as a six-month standstill restricting renewed merger talks with Rio Tinto nears its expiry. The company has long signalled its appetite for transformational deals, but its pursuit of the mining giant has so far failed.

(By Clara Denina; Editing by Louise Heavens)