Mining and commodity trading giant Glencore booked a higher net loss for the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, as weaker coal prices and reduced copper production weighed on the industrial businesses.
Switzerland-based Glencore reported on Wednesday $655 million in net loss for the first half of the year, widened from a loss of $233 million for the first half of 2024.
Adjusted core earnings, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), fell by 14% to $5.43 billion, although revenues rose slightly to $117.4 billion from a year earlier.
The decline in core earnings primarily reflected “weaker coal prices during the period and the impact of the lower copper production,” Glencore’s CEO Gary Nagle commented.
“While our zinc and coal assets are largely operating at the required run rates to deliver full-year volumes, our copper business is currently navigating various temporary, but largely expected, operational factors, including mine sequencing, lower grades, water constraints and cobalt stockpiling,” Nagle added.
Last week, Glencore warned that its copper production of 343,900 tons for the first half of 2025 was 26% lower compared to the same period last year, primarily due to lower head grades and recoveries at several major copper mines globally.
In the same press release last week, Glencore said it expects to fully deliver cost savings of $1 billion across its industrial businesses by the end of 2026.
Last year, Glencore scrapped a plan to spin off its coal business as shareholders continue to see value in it and aren’t sure a metals-only Glencore would have seen a higher market valuation.
In today’s earnings release, the mining and commodity trading giant expressed optimism in the long-term demand for key metals.
“While there is much uncertainty around the impacts of geopolitics and trade in the shorter-term, we remain of the view that, in certain commodities, the scale and pace of required resource development will struggle to meet the demand projections for such materials into the future,” Nagle said.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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