Latest news with #GlencorePlc
The Star
09-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
China's copper boom under threat as miners test bargaining power
This photo taken on May 17, 2025 shows the Dexing Copper Mine, an open-pit copper mine in Dexing, in China's central Jiangxi province. China's refined copper output is set to rise ten per cent in the first half of this year and nearly five per cent for the full year. - AFP BEIJING: The unrelenting expansion of Chinese copper processing capacity over the past few years has now become a global headache, as smelters scramble to secure the ore they need to produce the vital industrial metal. Output in the world's top producer of the refined metal has ballooned to a record this year, even in the face of trade tensions wars that are clouding the outlook for demand. The resulting competition has handed bargaining power to some of the world's largest miners. Copper treatment charges, typically a key earner for processors, have plunged deep below zero on the spot market. Chilean miner Antofagasta Plc has proposed negative charges for contracted supplies to smelters in the second half. The fraught situation for smelters worldwide is fueling expectations of cuts - Glencore Plc shut a facility in the Philippines in February. It's also focusing market attention on the surprising resilience of China's output, and raising the question of how long that can last. Analysts and industry executives say China's output is more resistant to financial pressures because it is now dominated by state-owned producers and by relatively large, efficient and low-cost smelters. Three major new plants were opened just last year, more than offsetting the pain felt by more modest operations. But there's also a still-substantial segment of China's market that is made up of smaller, privately owned smelters with more exposure to a tightening spot market. CRU Group says those plants account for about a quarter of the country's output. "Even if you have very deep pockets and are willing to operate at a loss, at the end of the day you might have to cut production because you simply cannot get the copper concentrate,' said Craig Lang, principal analyst at CRU Group. The stakes are high for the global copper smelting industry. With all high-cost facilities facing losses, every tonne that resists financial pressure in China means more pain for those elsewhere. Spot treatment charges to process concentrate fell to negative levels in December, and reached minus-$60 a tonne last month. The fees are deducted from the cost of concentrate and ordinarily make up a large chunk of smelter revenues. Term supplies are now threatening to slide into negative territory too, meaning smelters are effectively paying more for copper ore than the value of the metal contained in it. In February, when fees were less punitive than they are now, Glencore Plc Chief Executive Officer Gary Nagle said he wouldn't keep open loss-making copper plants. The company mothballed a smelter in the Philippines and is cutting costs at plants in Canada. Older European copper smelters could be at risk, while Japanese plants may be sheltered due to their parent companies' stakes in Chilean mines, said Grant Sporre, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "It's going to be a tough battle for survival.' Granted, the plunge in fees is partly due to relatively slow growth in mine output worldwide - but it's primarily driven by the rapid increase in smelting capacity. China's refined copper output is set to rise ten per cent in the first half of this year and nearly five per cent for the full year, according to researcher Shanghai Metals Market. The argument for China's resilient output rests largely on the belief that state-owned plants are protected because local governments want to safeguard jobs and the economy. "This is a consequence of an economic model that is less responsive to prevailing market conditions as plants can run on very thin margins - or even make losses - for extended periods of time,' Savant, a joint venture by Marex Group Plc and geospatial analysis company Earth-i, said in a note last month. Although cutting overcapacity across the Chinese economy has become a more important policy priority for Beijing recently, so called 'future-friendly' industries like copper, a metal required for electrification and so for the energy transition, are being given more leeway than sectors seen to be in structural decline, such as oil refining. For producers outside China, there is no such cushion. The suspension of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.'s Kakula copper mine in central Africa has been a blow to ore supply - and at the same time developments like the ramp-up of Freeport McMoRan Inc.'s Manyar smelter in Indonesia are adding more refining capacity to the market. Big smelters may still be able to maintain production for now, following some years of healthy cash flow, said Yongcheng Zhao, an analyst at Benchmark Minerals Intelligence Ltd. The less-efficient ones, though, are at risk. - Bloomberg
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Cobalt Holdings Won't Proceed With London IPO
Cobalt Holdings Plc decided not to proceed with its planned initial public offering in London. The company made the announcement in a statement Wednesday afternoon. The offering had aimed to raise about $230 million to make an initial purchase of cobalt from mining giant Glencore Plc, and to pay for storage costs.
Bloomberg
27-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Glencore Buys Russian Copper on LME to Feed Tight Chinese Market
Glencore Plc has been buying Russian copper on the London Metal Exchange and plans to deliver it into China, in a trade that highlights a squeeze on supplies in the world's largest copper consumer. In the past three trading sessions there have been requests for delivery of about 15,000 tons of copper from LME warehouses in Rotterdam, according to exchange data, drawing down available exchange inventories to the lowest in a year. Glencore was the key trader behind those withdrawal requests and is making plans to deliver the metal, which is Russian in origin, to China, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg
20-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Commodity Trader ED&F Man Expands Into Cotton With Viterra Hires
Commodities trader ED&F Man Holdings Ltd. is expanding into the cotton market after hiring a team from Viterra, an agriculture company backed by Glencore Plc, according to people familiar with the matter. The London-based trader, best known for hauling sugar and coffee around the world, has tapped more than 10 traders from Viterra, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information isn't public. The new hires include Josh Taylor, global trading manager for cotton at Viterra, and Andrew Kelly, head of physical cotton trading at the company, the people said.
Bloomberg
01-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Li-Cycle Seeks Buyers After Potential Sale to Glencore Falters
A Canadian battery recycling startup is seeking buyers after a potential sale to Glencore Plc fell through. Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. said it needs additional financing to meet its obligations and repay its debt, according to a statement on Thursday.
