Glencore’s copper assets came to the rescue in the mining and commodity trading giant’s six months to end-June, offsetting poor cobalt output in the period.Glencore on Wednesday said copper production rose 15% in the period, helping to offset a 46% plunge in cobalt due to export quotas currently being imposed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).In its half-year production report published on Wednesday, the group said own-sourced copper production of 397,000 tonnes was 15% higher than a year ago, primarily due to increased mining rates and improved grades at African Copper and higher grades at Antamina, Peru. However, that was partly offset by the planned closure of the Mount Isa copper mine in Queensland, Australia, in July 2025, it said.The company operates two copper and cobalt mining complexes in the DRC: Kamoto Copper Company and Mutanda Mining. CEO Gary Nagle said the group’s most important assets performed largely in line with expectations and previously communicated guidance in the first half.Own-sourced production volumes for zinc, nickel, gold, steelmaking coal and energy coal were also higher, he said.“Full-year 2026 production guidance for copper, zinc and nickel remains unchanged, while the midpoints of energy and steelmaking coal guidance are up by 1-million tonnes and down by 1-million tonnes, respectively,” he added.The group is maintaining its original copper and zinc guidance despite completing the sale of Kidd Mine in Ontario, Canada, to Discovery Silver Corp at the beginning of June, with a corresponding rest-of-year loss of about 20 kilotonnes and 11kt of zinc and copper, respectively.The group expects to report a strong half-year for its marketing unit, with adjusted earning before interest and tax (ebit) of about $3.3bn.Production highlights:Own-sourced cobalt production of 10,200 tonnes was 46% below a year ago, mainly due to the DRC government’s ongoing cobalt export quota regime.Own-sourced zinc production of 365,600 tonnes was 21% lower than a year ago, mainly reflecting Queensland’s Lady Loretta’s end-of-mine life in late 2025 and lower zinc grades at Antamina. The decrease also reflects the disposal of the Kidd mine in Canada in June.Own-sourced nickel production of 35,800 tonnes was broadly in line with the first half of 2025, Glencore said.Steelmaking coal production of 13.5-million tonnes was 14% lower than a year ago due to lower throughput and yields, which are expected to normalise in the second half. Energy coal production of 47.4-million tonnes was down 2% from a year ago due to the voluntary production curtailment implemented at Cerrejón in Colombia from the second quarter of 2025 in response to market conditions.The group has kept its full-year production guidance largely unchanged.Update: July 29 2026This article has been updated with new information. Business Day