Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) said its copper production dropped by 12% in 2022, impacted by issues at its Katanga open-pit mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The FTSE 100-listed miner and trader said it produced 1.06mln tonnes of copper last year, and kept its 2023 outlook unchanged at around 1.04mln tonnes. Glencore suspended operations at its huge Antapaccay copper mine in Peru on 20 January after protesters attacked the premises.
The company reported a 6% increase in coal production to 110mln tonnes, driven by its Cerrejon mine in Colombia, a level of production that it expects to keep this year.
Glencore last month shelved development of a A$2bn (US$1.3bn) coal mine in Australia's Queensland state given global uncertainties and a hike in state royalties that damaged investor confidence.
The company's zinc production fell 16% to 938,500 tonnes due to mine closures and sales, while cobalt output of 43,800 tonnes rose 40% year on year, due to the restart of the Mutanda mine in the DRC.
In the 2022 production report, Glencore chief executive officer Gary Nagle said: "Overall, 2022 production volumes were in line with our revised guidance from October 2022, with final quarter sequential production increases delivered across most of our key commodities, including copper, zinc, nickel and coal.
"During the year, however, we saw a mixed overall production performance. Copper and zinc volumes reflect the base effect of asset sales (notably Ernest Henry and Bolivia), Katanga's geotechnical constraints and supply chain headwinds in Kazakhstan. Nickel volumes benefitted from operating two lines at Koniambo for the majority of the year, partially offset by Canadian industrial action.
"Overall coal volumes rose during the year with the acquisition, in January 2022, of the balance of Cerrejón that we did not already own, however, on a like-for-like basis, group production actually declined by almost 9mln tonnes (7%), primarily due to abnormally wet weather."