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Released August 15, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore plc (Baar, Switzerland) took a hit from weaker coal prices and reduced copper production in the first half of 2025, but its executives remain positive in their full-year outlook, with a major production project in Canada set to wrap up in the coming months. Industrial Info is tracking more than US$19 billion worth of active and proposed projects worldwide from Glencore, including more than $5.7 billion worth in the U.S. and Canada.
Glencore's global copper production dropped 26% in the first half of 2025 to 343,900 metric tons, which the company attributed largely to declining grades. In a recent half-year earnings-related press release, executives reduced their full-year production forecast for 2025 to 850,000 to 890,000 tons of copper, compared with a previous estimate of 850,000 to 910,000 tons. Executives added they expect to see higher output of copper in the second half of 2025.
"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," the company said in the press release.
One project that is designed to boost Glencore's output of both copper and nickel is set to finish construction toward the end of the year: its US$1.3 billion Onaping Mine in Ontario, which started construction in 2018. It is expected to produce 9,000 tons per year of copper concentrate, 20,000 tons per year of nickel concentrate and 1.2 million tons per year of nickel ore. It is part of a broader, long-term effort to extend Glencore's mining operation in the Sudbury Basin to 2040.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Plant and Project databases can learn more about the Onaping development from a plant profile and detailed project report.
Glencore also is at work on a US$363.4 million expansion of its Horne Copper Smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, which is designed to improve labor and environmental conditions at the facility by replacing outmoded systems and adding dust-collection and carbon-capture systems. The Horne Smelter has the capacity to process 840,000 metric tons per year of copper and precious metal-bearing materials. Subscribers can learn more from a plant profile and detailed project report.
The Horne expansion started last spring and is not likely to finish until mid-2027. But later this year, Glencore expects to finish construction on US$147.7 million worth of equipment replacements at its zinc refinery and smelter in Salaberry-De-Valleyfield, Quebec. The company aims to replace all electrolytic cells, cranes and supporting equipment to improve conditions at its 265,000-ton-per-year hydrometallurgical zinc refinery and its 560,000-ton-per-year sulfuric acid unit. Subscribers can learn more from a plant profile and detailed project report.
In response to the dip in copper production and market-related headwinds, executives at Glencore recently announced a review of the company's industrial assets, which they hope will save US$1 billion in costs by the end of 2026. The company already has announced it had agreed to sell an underperforming copper refinery in the Philippines and that it will close its last two copper mines in Mount Isa, Queensland, which together constituted one of its largest holdings in Australia.
On the coal side of its business, Glencore is proposing an expansion of its Fording River Coal Mine near Elkford, British Columbia, which would access a new line of metallurgical coal reserves and boost production at the facility to as much as 10 million metric tons per year (from the current 8.5 million to 9.5 million metric tons) for the coming decades. Glencore acquired its Fording River asset last year after it was sold by Teck Resources Limited (Vancouver, British Columbia), which initially proposed the expansion. Subscribers can learn more from a plant profile and detailed project report.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Subscribers can click here for a full list of detailed reports for active and proposed projects worldwide from Glencore, and click here for a full list of detailed reports for the U.S. and Canada specifically.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Glencore's global copper production dropped 26% in the first half of 2025 to 343,900 metric tons, which the company attributed largely to declining grades. In a recent half-year earnings-related press release, executives reduced their full-year production forecast for 2025 to 850,000 to 890,000 tons of copper, compared with a previous estimate of 850,000 to 910,000 tons. Executives added they expect to see higher output of copper in the second half of 2025.
"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," the company said in the press release.
One project that is designed to boost Glencore's output of both copper and nickel is set to finish construction toward the end of the year: its US$1.3 billion Onaping Mine in Ontario, which started construction in 2018. It is expected to produce 9,000 tons per year of copper concentrate, 20,000 tons per year of nickel concentrate and 1.2 million tons per year of nickel ore. It is part of a broader, long-term effort to extend Glencore's mining operation in the Sudbury Basin to 2040.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Plant and Project databases can learn more about the Onaping development from a plant profile and detailed project report.
Glencore also is at work on a US$363.4 million expansion of its Horne Copper Smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, which is designed to improve labor and environmental conditions at the facility by replacing outmoded systems and adding dust-collection and carbon-capture systems. The Horne Smelter has the capacity to process 840,000 metric tons per year of copper and precious metal-bearing materials. Subscribers can learn more from a plant profile and detailed project report.
The Horne expansion started last spring and is not likely to finish until mid-2027. But later this year, Glencore expects to finish construction on US$147.7 million worth of equipment replacements at its zinc refinery and smelter in Salaberry-De-Valleyfield, Quebec. The company aims to replace all electrolytic cells, cranes and supporting equipment to improve conditions at its 265,000-ton-per-year hydrometallurgical zinc refinery and its 560,000-ton-per-year sulfuric acid unit. Subscribers can learn more from a plant profile and detailed project report.
In response to the dip in copper production and market-related headwinds, executives at Glencore recently announced a review of the company's industrial assets, which they hope will save US$1 billion in costs by the end of 2026. The company already has announced it had agreed to sell an underperforming copper refinery in the Philippines and that it will close its last two copper mines in Mount Isa, Queensland, which together constituted one of its largest holdings in Australia.
On the coal side of its business, Glencore is proposing an expansion of its Fording River Coal Mine near Elkford, British Columbia, which would access a new line of metallurgical coal reserves and boost production at the facility to as much as 10 million metric tons per year (from the current 8.5 million to 9.5 million metric tons) for the coming decades. Glencore acquired its Fording River asset last year after it was sold by Teck Resources Limited (Vancouver, British Columbia), which initially proposed the expansion. Subscribers can learn more from a plant profile and detailed project report.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Subscribers can click here for a full list of detailed reports for active and proposed projects worldwide from Glencore, and click here for a full list of detailed reports for the U.S. and Canada specifically.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
