[Glencore Releases Q1 2026 Report] Glencore published its Q1 2026 report. The report showed that its own zinc production for the quarter was 176,900 mt, down 17% YoY, primarily reflecting the Lady Loretta mine reaching the end of its mine life at year-end 2025, as well as reduced contributions from Kazzinc due to resequencing of own-source raw materials. Glencore's own zinc production guidance for 2026 was 700,000-740,000 mt.

Queensland and the Australian federal government have launched a A$600 million study aimed at securing the long-term future of the state’s copper industry. The initiative will focus on sustaining operations at the Mount Isa smelter and Townsville refinery while exploring broader industrial growth opportunities. Officials said the plan is designed to strengthen Australia’s critical minerals supply chain resilience and regional employment. Glencore also plans to invest A$2.5 billion in the region over the next six years.

【SMM Steel】Mining and trading giant Glencore is offering a deep-sea ferrous scrap cargo from the EU for June shipment to Turkey via a Baltic-based exporter. The Baltic exporter entered the Turkish market in 2023 but had previously focused on smaller Mediterranean cargoes of 8,000-10,000 tonnes, as Turkish shipments of ~20,000 tonnes require stronger financing and freight management. Glencore has also signed an agreement with Polish transshipment specialist Lebal at Gdansk Port to strengthen export logistics. Turkey imports 18-20 million tonnes of scrap annually as the world's largest ferrous scrap importer. With CBAM implementation and global decarbonisation accelerating, scrap is being repositioned from a secondary by-product into a strategic core metallics input.

[Domestic Ore Market Tightness Persists, Zinc Concentrate TCs Continue to Decline]: Based on weekly data, the SMM Zn50 domestic weekly average TC fell 150 yuan/mt Zn WoW to 550 yuan/mt Zn, and the SMM imported zinc concentrate index dropped $8.45/dmt WoW to -$54.2/dmt.

According to Miningweekly, citing Bloomberg, a Cold War-era mine near the Slovak capital Bratislava is attracting attention from the EU. The project, known as Trojarova, is situated on a densely wooded hillside in what is known as the Little Carpathians in Slovakia, where Soviet engineers first discovered antimony-bearing ore layers in the 1980s. Its owner, Canada-based Military Metals Corp (MMC), is seen as an opportunity for Europe to secure a military metal. For critical minerals such as antimony, EU countries appear unable to provide funding and take action, leaving projects like Trojarova vulnerable to being snapped up by competitors. MMC has so far failed to secure an offtake agreement from the EU. As President Trump threatens to raise tariffs on Europe, the project illustrates the danger of Europe falling behind in the fierce competition among superpowers. As imports of critical minerals such as rare earths face restrictions, the US has been actively seeking partnerships with resource-rich countries and funding projects around the world to accelerate development, but Europe has lagged behind. "Member states remain reluctant to foot the bill for mining and processing projects outside their borders, even when geo-economic realities demand it," said Schulz Sabrina, Germany director of the European Initiative for Energy Security (EIES). "Financing remains the main obstacle." The 2023 European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) laid out the EU's strategy. The CRMA set targets that at least 10% of Europe's annual critical materials supply should come from domestic extraction and 40% from domestic processing. These targets compelled member states to take action, identify security gaps, and concentrate investment to ensure secure supplies of battery metals such as lithium. Since then, global competitors have pivoted to military resources such as antimony, gallium, and germanium, but Europe has not followed suit. Insiders believe this is because EU officials lack the authority to pursue policies similar to those of the US and lack the funding to invest. This has made it difficult for underfunded enterprises to launch minor metal projects, as they struggle to raise capital in private markets at the very least. With tight budgets across Europe, many EU member states are unknown on how to take action. In Germany, for example, the economics ministry, the chancellery, and the foreign ministry have yet to agree on how to address critical minerals risks. The result is a deadlock, with EU officials worried that member states fear missing out on opportunities. Last month, the EU reached an agreement with the US on policy coordination to secure critical minerals supply chains. For MMC, this was an important development that could lead to joint US-EU investment and offtake partnerships for Trojarova. On March 24, Hartmann Frank, a German foreign ministry official responsible for Asian affairs, said at an event in Berlin that Europe was not acting fast enough and "not doing enough." "We must implement a long-term strategy, keep the funds and capital in our hands, and invest in these critical minerals over the next decade," he said at a panel discussion hosted by the German Council on Foreign Relations. "Otherwise, we will not be able to break free from this dependency." The Trojarova project, acquired by MMC about two years ago, could be an opportunity. Antimony is a silvery-white metal commonly associated with gold, widely used in military applications such as ammunition, night-vision goggles, and infrared sensors, accounting for 15% of total demand. Other uses include flame retardants, nuclear energy, and renewable energy. "Antimony is a versatile minor metal," said Schulz. "Antimony supply is highly concentrated, and Europe is almost entirely dependent on imports." This is also why MMC has been pitching the Trojarova project to investors as a significant opportunity in Europe, capable of supplying antimony ingots directly to national defense clients. MMC CEO Eldridge Scott said smelters in Germany and Sweden could process ore from the project, helping Europe establish an entire antimony supply chain from mining to processing. The mine, located near the wine town of Pezinok in southwestern Slovakia, was first discovered and mined by the Soviets. Although the 1.7-kilometer-long mine was later abandoned, it remains one of Europe's most significant antimony deposits. MMC is too small to resume production at the mine on its own and needs to co-invest with partners and build a smelter. If production resumes within two to three years, the mine could produce 6,000 mt of antimony annually, meeting one-third of Europe's demand. However, the company, with a market capitalization of less than $30 million, needs substantial funding. In addition, critical minerals prices are prone to wild swings, and even in markets such as lithium, several major projects have stalled as miners seek government funding. No matter how high-quality this company's project may be, Europe still lacks the funding and determination to ensure the development of these resources. Germany's own 1 billion euro raw material fund has so far supported only two projects, creating more barriers for companies to qualify than it has removed. The European Commission and its member states have signed multiple memoranda of understanding with producing countries. For example, Spain reached an agreement with Brazil last month. However, US agreements with these countries are larger in funding scale and progressing faster. The US government's agreement with the EU reflects its so-called price floors to safeguard producers' operations. European countries have been hesitant, but sometimes have had no choice but to agree to US proposals. Meanwhile, the momentum for EU action has largely given way to other more pressing crises. In contrast, although the US government has recently been focused on conflicts such as the Iran war, the president's team of aides has been busy identifying mineral projects and bidding to secure them. A US enterprise has already approached MMC to request a field trip to the Trojarova project. Meanwhile, the US government's investment arm agreed last month to a $5 million deal to restart another shuttered antimony mine in North Macedonia. MMC president Hüser Thomas hopes Trojarova will not face a similar outcome. The German national, formerly a manager at Glencore, joined the company this year. "What we still lack is not plans, but enforcement," he said. "Europe's raw material strategy remains fragmented, slow, and often disconnected from industrial reality."

Given the high reliance of the Copperbelt’s mineral processing and logistics on critical consumables supplied via the Middle East, SMM conducted a 17-day field investigation across the Copperbelt to assess the short-term stability of the copper supply chain and the impact of regional infrastructure bottlenecks, engaging with 25 stakeholders in Zambia and DRC and covering the entire value chain, ranging from mining, smelting, refining to downstream logistics and infrastructure investment.

Kazzinc said on Tuesday that its zinc and lead plants at the Ust-Kamenogorsk metallurgical complex in eastern Kazakhstan are operating at reduced capacity following last week’s explosion. The incident occurred at Kazzinc’s zinc plant, killing three people and injuring five others. Kazzinc, Kazakhstan’s largest producer of zinc, lead and precious metals and owned by Glencore, has not disclosed the extent of the impact on output. Clean-up operations and an investigation into the incident are still ongoing.

[No Significant Production Cuts at Smelters in May; Zinc Concentrate TCs Continued to Decline]: Based on weekly data, the SMM Zn50 domestic weekly average TC fell 150 yuan/mt Zn WoW to 700 yuan/mt Zn, and the SMM imported zinc concentrate index dropped $6.5/dmt WoW to -$45.75/dmt.

Own-sourced copper production from Glencore’s African copper assets — KCC and Mutanda — rose by 27,400 tonnes (68%) year on year to 67,900 tonnes, with KCC contributing 51,900 tonnes (up 72% year on year) and Mutanda 16,000 tonnes (up 55%), according to the production report. Glencore attributed the increase to improved grades at both operations. African cobalt production fell to 5,100 tonnes, down by 42% year on year, with Mutanda producing no cobalt in the quarter compared with 2,900 tonnes a year earlier, according to the report. For the first quarter of 2026, Glencore’s own-sourced cobalt production was 5,800 tonnes, down by 39% year on year.

On May 5th, according to Reuters, an explosion occurred at Kazzinc’s site. Kazzinc said that it occurred during cleaning work on a smoke extraction system, followed by a fire and partial structural collapse. So far, emergency ministry said the fire had been extinguished. Kazzinc, owned by Glencore, has an annual production of roughly 250-300 kt of zinc, 100-150 kt of lead and around 87.5 kt of copper cathode. Kazzinc hasn't disclosed the specific impact. Based on currently available information, the incident mainly involved smoke extraction/dust-collection equipment, may cause temporary disruption to related operations. There is no evidence so far that the main zinc electrowinning line was damaged. Further updates needed on the scope of any cuts or suspensions and the repair timeline.