Although global diversified miner Glencore has reported lower production of most of its commodities for the first quarter of the year, compared with the first quarter of last year, it remains on track to meet full-year production guidance.

In the first quarter of the year, Glencore completed the acquisition of the CEZ zinc refinery, in Canada, after previously owning 25%, while the Newlands coal mine in Queensland ceased production.

The Liddel coal mine is scheduled to cease production later in 2023.

CEO Gary Nagle says Glencore’s marketing segment continued to perform well in the period under review, particularly within energy products. He notes that, extrapolating the first-quarter’s marketing-related adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, has put Glencore on track to exceed the top end of its guidance of $2.2-billion to $3.2-billion for the full-year.

Glencore’s operations are spread across 35 countries.

Own-sourced copper production was 5% lower year-on-year at 244 100 t in the first quarter, largely owing to unplanned lower grades at the Collahuasi pit and adverse weather conditions at the Antamina mine.

Own-sourced zinc production was 15% lower year-on-year at 205 300 t, reflecting the disposal of Glencore’s South American zinc operations and the closure of the Matagami mine last year.

The wet weather at Antamina also impacted on zinc production, while the McArthur River project is temporarily processing lower-grade feedstocks in line with its mine plan.

Nickel production of 20 900 t was 32% lower in the period under review, mainly owing to the company prioritising third-party feed.

Attributable ferrochrome production of 400 000 t was 3% higher compared with the first quarter of last year.

Glencore further reports that coal production was 6% lower year-on-year at just under 27-million tonnes, mainly reflecting the short-term impact of a community blockade at the Cerrejón mine.

The current guidance for 2023 is set at between 1.04-million and 1.07-million tonnes of copper, between 38 000 t and 43 000 t of cobalt, between 950 000 t and 980 000 t of zinc, between 112 000 t and 117 000 t of nickel, between 1.31-million and 1.34-million tonnes of ferrochrome and between 110-million and 116-million tonnes of coal.