Anglo American Q1 copper production up despite capacity constraints
Anglo American
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16:35 19/04/24
Anglo American reported higher first quarter copper production despite capacity constraints caused by Covid-19 restrictions as it continued to shift its focus towards “future enabling” metals and minerals.
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The mining giant on Thursday said copper production for the three months to March 31 increased by 9% to 160,300 tonnes, due to strong operational performance at its Los Bronces and Collahuasi operations in Chile.
It maintained production guidance at 640,000-680,000 tonnes, subject to the extent of further Covid-19 related-disruption. Anglo is looking to cash in on higher demand for copper and other metals that are now increasingly needed for products such as electric car batteries.
Total production increased by 3%, despite running at 95% capacity, driven by strong performances in copper, platinum group metals and iron ore in South Africa, which offset plant maintenance downtime at Minas-Rio iron ore in Brazil and the temporary suspension Australian metallurgical coal operations, Anglo said.
Rough diamond production at its De Beers unit fell 7% to 7.2m, driven by operational challenges, including excessive rainfall in southern Africa and a Covid-19-related shutdown in Canada, as well as planned maintenance in Namibia.
Chief executive Mark Cutifani said total group production was at 95% of normal capacity, “meeting strong customer demand despite some limited constraints at certain operations due to Covid-19”.
"Anglo American's portfolio is increasingly tilted towards future-enabling metals and minerals, with our recently proposed demerger of our thermal coal operations in South Africa moving us further in that direction.”