ZURICH: Switzerland-based mining giant Glencore Xstrata said yesterday its copper production in the first half (H1) of the year jumped by 20 percent, thanks to ramped-up projects in Peru, Africa and Australia.
In the six months ending on June 30, the company said its total of own-sourced copper production came to 673,400 tonnes, gaining a particular boost from Africa, where production jumped by 42 percent to 171,500 tonnes.
The growth in Africa was particularly evident in its Katanga and Mutanda mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gold production also soared, growing by 22.5 percent to reach 777,000 tonnes, much on the back of an improvement in operational performance, it said. Zinc production fell slightly in the period however, down by 3 percent, with growth in its Australian and Namibian mines failing to offset a drop in production in North America.
Glencore Xstrata was formally created earlier this year via a merger between commodities trader Glencore International and mining heavyweight Xstrata.
German steelmaker to axe 1,500 jobs
FRANKFURT: Salzgitter, Germany’s second-biggest steel maker, yesterday said it plans to axe more than 1,500 jobs by the end of 2015 as it plunged deeper into the red.
“In order to achieve an acceptable level of performance also under difficult general conditions in the markets and competitive arena,” the company has launched a restructuring programme under the name of “Salzgitter AG 2015”, it said in a statement. Salzgitter said it has identified an overall profit improvement potential of more than ¤200m ($265m) each year.
“More than half of this amount is attributable to the further development of technical processes and initiatives in the areas of logistics, procurement and data processing, along with reducing personnel by more than 1,500 positions,” it said. Agencies
