Glencore, the London- and Johannesburg-listed producer and marketer of over 60 commodities, announced on Friday that it expects adjusted marketing earnings before interest and tax to be in the range of $3.5 billion to $4 billion. This surpasses its long-term guidance range of $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion. Analysts from Jefferies and Deutsche Bank Research reiterated their recommendations to buy Glencore shares, with Jefferies calling it one of their preferred miners.

The company's copper, coal, and zinc assets performed in line with expectations, and first-half output was described as solid. Glencore's CEO, Gary Nagle, stated that second-half volume weightings in copper, zinc, and nickel are expected to be higher due to increased production volumes from various mines.

Glencore is set to report its overall first-half results on August 8, with its marketing segment largely normalizing. While this will impact profitability, it has allowed for the release of some of the investment made in marketing working capital in 2022.

Regarding own-sourced production, cobalt and gold production increased in the six months ending in June. However, copper production was down by 4% compared to the corresponding period in 2022, and zinc production was 10% lower due to disposals of South American zinc operations and the closure of Matagami. Nickel production was 20% lower, mainly due to higher third-party production caused by a strike at Raglan mine in Canada last year. Attributable ferrochrome production was 9% lower due to additional smelter offline days, and coal production was 2% lower compared to the first half of last year.

On the positive side, cobalt production increased by 5% due to improved recoveries at the Katanga copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and gold output was up by 10% at 369,000 ounces.

Jefferies noted that Glencore has been active in deals as both a buyer and a seller this year, but there is uncertainty about its bid to merge with Teck Resources and its alternative proposal to acquire Teck's coal assets and subsequently demerge the combined company's coal business through a listing on the New York Stock Exchange.