Glencore cuts 2019 copper production target

Miner and trader Glencore lowered its target for 2019 copper output following severe flooding in Australia and a 7 percent drop in production of the metal in the first quarter versus the same time a year ago.

First quarter copper production slipped to 320,700 tonnes, while cobalt output jumped 56 percent in the same period.

Glencore said it now expects copper production for the year to be 1,460,000 tonnes, plus or minus 30,000 tonnes. It had earlier forecast approximately 1,540,000 tonnes.

It also trimmed its cobalt predictions, saying full year output should be 57,000 tonnes plus or minus 4,000 tonnes, versus 5,000 tonnes previously.

Glencore's shares fell around 3 percent on Friday after the U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it was investigating possible corrupt practices.

They were down 2.8 percent by 0709 GMT on Tuesday.

The mining sector as a whole has come under pressure from concerns about its exposure to environmental and political risk.

Glencore is particularly vulnerable because of its presence in countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, which is also where most of the world's cobalt, needed for electric vehicles, is found.

In Congo, Glencore's Katanga Mining unit restarted earlier this month after work to treat cobalt which had excess uranium content, something that has constrained exports.

Shipping also resumed this month but is still subject to monitoring.

Glencore, the world's biggest shipper of seaborne coal, has said it will limit its capacity of the fuel as pressure mounts on miners to help curb carbon emissions.

Its coal output in the first quarter was 8 percent higher than the same time a year ago, reflecting the integration of assets Glencore acquired.