Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) is keeping the market guessing (for a little longer at least) over its aspirations for the strongly performing coal business.
In its half-year production update, it said it would wait until its interim results next week before sharing its decision on whether to spin the assets off into a separate business.
In the meantime, coal, with the addition of assets bought from Teck Resources is performing strongly, with forecasts for the remainder of the year increased. It was 'steady as she goes' for the remainder of the business.
Glencore anticipates producing 98-106 million tons of thermal coal and 19-21 million tons of steelmaking coal in 2024. Forward guidance suggests a modest drop in copper, nickel and cobalt production, with zinc expected to remain steady in 2024 compared with the year earlier.
"As anticipated, 2024 is expected to be a year of two halves, whereby the tracking of our year-to-date production versus guidance is expected to be caught up during the second half of the year," said CEO Gary Nagle.