Archive | Glencore

Anglo, Glencore among firms in study said to be meeting Paris Agreement targets – by David McKay (MiningMx.com – October 7, 2020)

October 8, 2020 in Anglo American, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and ENGOs, Glencore, International Media Resource Articles

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ANGLO American and Glencore were two of only seven companies that a study said were doing enough to meet Paris Agreement targets on climate control.

Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) assessed 59 resources and energy companies finding the fossil fuel industry was failing on its environmental scorecard.

The TPI is a global program based at the London School of Economics, which assesses climate risks and companies’ preparedness for a low-carbon economy, said Bloomberg News which reported on the study. Continue Reading →

The Sudbury model: How one of the world’s major polluters went green – by Sara Miller Llana (The Christian Science Monitor – September 24, 2020)

September 25, 2020 in Glencore, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Mining Environmental, Water Shortage and Land Reclamation/Revegetation Issues, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.csmonitor.com/

When the Superstack was constructed in 1972, it was the tallest structure in Canada – and the tallest smokestack in the world. At 1,250 feet, it’s visible from every vantage point in the area. It can be seen from the bustling streets of downtown to the quiet cul-de-sacs of residential neighborhoods. It looms large in the distance from highways that feed into a city that is home to one of the largest mining complexes in the world.

Built by Canadian company Inco before it was purchased by Vale, the Superstack has long stood as a reminder of the environmental devastation that mining wrought here. But this year the chimney is being fully decommissioned.

Residents of Sudbury harbor mixed feelings about the Superstack. Some see it as a memorial to their rise as a center of nickel and copper mining globally. Others see it simply as a familiar landmark that signals they are home. Gisele Lavigne lives in the Copper Cliff neighborhood at the Superstack’s base. Continue Reading →

Ferrochrome business remains solid, world still requires large amount of it – Glasenberg – by Martin Creamer (Mining Weekly – August 11, 2020)

August 12, 2020 in Africa Mining, Chromium/Platinum Group Metals, Glencore, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The ferrochrome business remains solid and there is still a large amount of ferrochrome required in the world.

Unfortunately, most of the production occurs in ferrochrome plants in China, while South Africa continues exporting chrome ore and moving a large amount of it to China owing to South Africa not being competitive in respect of electricity prices.

Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg pointed this out in response to a question put to him by Mining Weekly during a media conference following last week’s presentation of half-year results in which the marketing division of the London- and Johannesburg-listed company outperformed with adjusted earnings before interest and tax of $2-billion, allowing the company to raise full-year guidance to the top end of its long-term range of $2.2-billion to $3.2-billion. Continue Reading →

OPINION: Trump’s aluminum tariffs have Glencore’s prints all over them – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail – August 12, 2020)

August 12, 2020 in Aluminium/Bauxite, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Glencore, United States Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

When President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the U.S. primary aluminum industry was on its deathbed. Undercut by Canadian producers that relied on cheap and clean hydroelectricity to power modern smelters, and unable to compete with subsidized Chinese imports, the U.S. industry had shrunk to five plants operating below capacity.

Tariffs Mr. Trump imposed on Canadian raw aluminum imports in 2018 bought the U.S. industry some time, but not enough to fix its fundamentals. When the tariffs were lifted last year – as part of a good-faith gesture aimed at securing ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement – it was only a matter of time before U.S. aluminum producers began to clamour for their renewal.

Last week, Mr. Trump answered their pleas, proving that the most protectionist U.S. president in modern history never really intended to honour the spirit or the letter of the USMCA, which went into force barely a month ago. Continue Reading →

Glencore posts $2.6 billion loss, scraps dividend – by Cecilia Jamasmie  (Mining.com – August 6, 2020)

August 6, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Glencore

https://www.mining.com/

Miner and commodities trader giant Glencore (LON: GLEN) posted a $2.6 billion loss for the first half of the year and scrapped its dividend, as the coronavirus pandemic dented global demand and lowered prices and production at its mining division.

Despite the virus impact, the Swiss firm managed to remain profitable on an operating basis. Glencore posted $1.5 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, but booked $3.2 million in impairment charges.

The company said it was putting balance sheet strength ahead of shareholder returns, as net debt climbed 12% to $19.7 billion at the end of June. Continue Reading →

Calls for tariffs on Canadian aluminum come with a Glencore twist – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 11, 2020)

July 13, 2020 in Aluminium/Bauxite, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Glencore, United States Mining

https://financialpost.com/

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement was supposed to mark a new era in trade relations between Ottawa and Washington. Instead it came into force on July 1 overshadowed by the Trump Administration’s threats to re-impose tariffs on Canadian aluminum.

While political analysts have speculated about whether the tough talk, which began last month, may have had more to do with re-election campaigning than economic policy, inside aluminum industry circles the possibility of new tariffs has raised eyebrows for other reasons.

That’s because one of the world’s largest commodities players, Switzerland-based Glencore Plc — which mines nickel, copper, zinc and thermal coal in Canada and has partnerships worth billions of dollars with some of this country’s largest pension plans — is a major investor in a Chicago-based aluminum producer closely tied to the tariff fight. Continue Reading →

Why Canada faces fresh U.S. aluminum tariffs – by James McCarten (Globe and Mail – July 6, 2020)

July 6, 2020 in Aluminium/Bauxite, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Glencore, United States Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The United States is once again threatening to spark a fresh tariff war with Canada over aluminum exports, despite the debut of a renegotiated North American trade agreement that was supposed to usher in stability in the midst of an international economic crisis.

Precisely why remains a mystery to trade and industry insiders, although it’s likely the result of a convergence of disparate factors: COVID-19, international metals arbitrage, President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and US$16.3-billion worth of Russian aluminum.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Jean Simard, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association of Canada, coming as it does with the coming into force of USMCA – the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which formally replaced NAFTA this week. Continue Reading →

Glencore donates $40K to United Way’s community response fund – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – June 22, 2020)

June 24, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Glencore, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Glencore in Sudbury has donated $40,000 to boost a special fund created by the United Way Centraide North East Ontario.

Dubbed the Local Love in a Global Crisis Community Response Fund, it now totals more than $300,000.

“We are grateful to Glencore and all of our supporters for their generosity and compassion during these uncertain times,” United Way executive director Mary Lou Hussak is quoted as saying in a news release Monday. Continue Reading →

Column: Tesla’s reluctant commitment to cobalt a warning to others – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – June 23, 2020)

June 23, 2020 in Africa Mining, Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Glencore, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Child and Slave Labour – Historical and Current

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – The unpredictable Elon Musk strikes again. Just when his electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla seemed to be pivoting away from using cobalt in its batteries, it signs a long-term supply deal for the controversial metal with Glencore.

This from the man who has vowed to eliminate cobalt from the Tesla product mix because of its financial cost and the reputational cost of a metal associated with child labour and poor safety conditions at artisanal mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s dominant producer.

Tesla’s not the first auto company to lock in future cobalt supplies with a miner. BMW did the same last year, also with Glencore as well as with the Bou-Azzer mine in Morocco. Continue Reading →

Glencore faces Swiss probe over alleged Congo corruption (Swiss Info – June 20, 2020)

June 23, 2020 in Africa Mining, Glencore, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has opened a criminal probe into Swiss-based commodity trader and miner Glencore over alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it mines copper and cobalt.

Glencore said in a statement on June 19 that the Swiss criminal investigation was for the multinational’s “failure to have the organizational measures in place to prevent alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo currently under investigation by the OAG”.

The Zug-based firm, which is subject to various international inquiries, said it would cooperate with the probe, but declined to comment further. Continue Reading →

Coronavirus Pandemic Turns Locals Against Miners – by Alistair MacDonald and Daniela Blandón Ramírez (Wall Street Journal – April 14, 2020)

April 15, 2020 in Coal, Glencore, International Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining

https://www.wsj.com/

Locals from a town in northern Colombia last month blockaded a mine operated by one of the world’s biggest miners, Glencore PLC, burning tires and delivering a simple message: Don’t bring the new coronavirus here.

Covid-19 is swamping hospitals around the world, shutting down entire economies amid measures to slow its spread. It is also heightening local mistrust of some foreign corporations working in far-off lands, adding to a number of new pressures that the pandemic has created for globalized industries.

In recent weeks, some miners have been hit by protests around the world. Residents and activists accuse foreign companies of risking the safety of local communities in the pursuit of profit during the pandemic. Continue Reading →

UPDATE 3-Coronavirus impact sees Glencore Zambian unit shut copper mines – by Chris Mfula (Reuters U.K. – April 7, 2020)

April 8, 2020 in Africa Mining, Copper, Glencore, International Media Resource Articles

https://uk.reuters.com/

LUSAKA, April 7 (Reuters) – Glencore’s Zambian unit Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) will shutter its mines on Wednesday following disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic and low copper prices, it said in a statement, after the country’s mines minister earlier criticised the closure.

“In addition to the impacts of a rapid decline in the copper price, Mopani’s situation has been further impacted by the critical disruptions to international mobility, transportation and supply chains arising from COVID-19,” the company said.

Zambia’s mines minister earlier said MCM had declared “force majeure”, a clause in contracts that allows contractual obligations to be ignored because of unavoidable circumstances. Continue Reading →

Glencore shutters Quebec mines; operations in Sudbury continue – by Staff (Sudbury Star – March 27, 2020)

March 27, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Glencore, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Quebec Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Glencore said Thursday its Raglan nickel and Matagami zinc operations in Quebec will be on care and maintenance for the next three weeks. Nickel from Raglan is shipped to Glencore’s Sudbury operations, where it is processed. Operations in Sudbury will continue to run.

“The government of Quebec has ordered all non-essential businesses to close in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. Accordingly, our Raglan (nickel) and Matagami (zinc) operations in Quebec will be on care and maintenance for the next three weeks,” Glencore said in a statement. “In Ontario, the government has issued a similar decree, but mining has been designated an essential business and therefore our assets can continue to operate.”

The company said it is halting operations at its smaller mines around the world due to government restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus but added its larger operations were not materially impacted. Continue Reading →

King Coal Isn’t Dead Yet. Ask Glencore – by Clara Ferreira Marques (Bloomberg News – February 19, 2020)

February 20, 2020 in Coal, Glencore, International Media Resource Articles

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Thermal coal has become a byword for the resource industry’s climate crimes. From BlackRock Inc. down, fund managers are reluctant to touch a mineral that releases more carbon dioxide than any other energy source. Large miners, from BHP Group to Anglo American Plc, are trying to dump it. Coal is also — for now at least — profitable.

It’s the unpalatable truth that explains why Glencore Plc, the world’s largest exporter of the black stuff, sticks with a dying fuel. Morals aside, the details suggest Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg and his team may well be right.

Tuesday’s full-year earnings from the trader and miner bore more than a few smudges. Lower prices for commodities like copper and cobalt took a heavy toll. Coal didn’t help, with the price of benchmark Newcastle coal down by over a third in 2019. Continue Reading →

Glencore plans leadership shakeup this year, says CEO – by Julia Payne and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.S. – February 18, 2020)

February 19, 2020 in Glencore, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Glencore (GLEN.L) will make more changes to its front bench this year, Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said on Tuesday, as the world’s largest commodities trader hastens a transition to a new generation of leaders.

The London-listed miner has faced mounting pressure to change its leadership after multiple corruption and bribery investigations. Falling commodity prices and a large exposure to out-of-favour coal have added to challenges facing the firm, whose shares lost a fifth of their value last year.

“We want a smooth generation change. There will be a few senior management changes coming,” Glasenberg told reporters. “Once the new generation is in place and ready to move on, then it will also be the time for me to move on. Continue Reading →