Glencore asks Australian Government to bail out local copper assets

Anglo-Swiss commodities company Glencore has said it has spoken to both Queensland and the Federal Government of Australia regarding the future of the Mount Isa Copper Smelter and Townville Copper Refinery assets.

Glencore announced in October 2023 that its Mount Isa underground copper mines would be closed by the second half 2025. They cited studies and reviews which stated it was impossible to extend the mine's life.

Sam Strohmayr said in a speech to Mount Isa local communities on Wednesday that the impact of the work is expected to be around 500 people. We're working hard to redeploy people as much as we can over the next few months.

Strohmayr said, "We are evaluating the future of our copper-processing assets in the context of the biggest drops in treatment and refinement charges in 25 year. Smelters in countries such as China and Indonesia have been heavily subventioned by their governments."

This announcement marks the second time that an international commodities company has re-evaluated the status of their Australian assets. Trafigura, a Swiss trading firm, had placed its Nyrstar zinc smelter, which was struggling in Tasmania, under strategic review.

Richard Holtum, Trafigura CEO, spoke about the decision at the FT Commodities Global Summit in late March. He said that mineral processing plants such as smelters were a "national security issue". Holtum also added that unless governments provide more support, they will never be able to reduce their dependence on China's supply of essential minerals. (Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao; Editing by Alan Barona)

(source: Reuters)