February 2, 2023--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Despite a steep drop in copper production in 2022, Glencore plc (Baar, Switzerland) said this week it would keep its 2023 production outlook unchanged from its October estimate at about 1.04 million tons. That's still below 2022's output of 1.06 million tons, but the mining giant believes the global transition to cleaner energy sources will continue to drive demand for copper and other materials necessary for battery-storage systems and other components.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $14.4 billion worth of active projects worldwide from Glencore, including more than $4.7 billion worth in the U.S. and Canada. Glencore's 2022 copper output was 12% below that of 2021, largely due to "geotechnical constraints" at its 3 million-ton-per-year Katanga Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the sale of its Ernest Henry Mine in Cloncurry, Queensland, to Australia's Evolution Mining Limited (Sydney, New South Wales) at the end of 2021. More recently, Glencore suspended operations at a Peruvian after protesters attacked the premises three times within the previous month.

Other companies featured: United States Strategic Metals LLC and Viterra Incorporated