Falling production hits Glencore shares

GLENCORE shares fell nearly 3pc after the mining and commodity trading firm trimmed production forecasts for raw materials.

The Swiss group cut its 2019 copper guidance after flooding in Australia, technical problems and safety-related outages hit production in the first quarter.

It said output between January and March had fallen 7pc.

Glencore also slashed its annual guidance for nickel, ferrochrome and oil, after nickel production dipped by 10pc and ferrochrome and oil output were flat.

It made no sales of key battery material cobalt in the first three months of the year. RBC said in a note to clients: ‘Glencore appears to be having more challenges than its peers with its more diverse portfolio of assets, but the misses were largely driven by one-offs.’

Shares shed 2.6pc, or 8.2p, to 304.35p.