Glencore in talks to sell its Philippine copper smelting unit
Glencore is in talks to sell its copper business in the Philippines as the metal’s smelting industry reels from the lowest processing fees on record.
The commodities giant is discussions with at least one domestic buyer for the unit, according to people familiar with the situation who declined to be identified as the talks are private. The negotiations are ongoing, and there is no guarantee a deal will be reached.
Due to its location, the business — Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp., or Pasar — has long been a key trading asset for Glencore. It’s an outlet to place concentrates from Pacific producers in Australia and Indonesia, while also taking distressed cargoes en-route from South America to China.
The potential sale comes at a time when annual processing fees for smelters have been negotiated down to historic lows in 2025 supply contracts.
A massive expansion of smelting capacity globally coincided with production setbacks at major mines — meaning smelters have to compete more to get hold of the partially processed copper ores known as concentrates.
Glencore acquired Pasar in 1999 and has since expanded the smelter to process about 1.2 million tons of copper concentrate annually, to produce around 200,000 tons of LME-branded copper cathodes per year.
A Glencore spokesman declined to comment.
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