Workers at Glencore’s Townsville copper refinery in Queensland are planning a strike after nearly a year of unsuccessful wage negotiations. The industrial action could disrupt refinery operations and affect copper supply chains. Analysts say labor disputes add further uncertainty to the global copper market.

The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) stated that workers at a copper refinery in North Queensland are planning to go on strike due to nearly a year of unsuccessful negotiations with Glencore over pay and working conditions. The union said that if the labor negotiations scheduled for Thursday still fail to address workers' demands, employees at the Townsville refinery will begin striking from Friday.

After returning from the Chinese New Year holiday, Q4 reports from listed miners outside China have been released one after another recently. 2025 was a period of concentrated release of new capacity at mines outside China. What was the specific situation? What are the expectations for 2026? Let us analyze it by enterprise.

According to foreign media reports, Glencore has proposed supporting Kazakh entrepreneur Shakhmurat Mutalip's $1.4 billion bid to acquire a 40% stake in Eurasian Resources Group.

According to reports, Glencore has agreed to purchase approximately 2,000 metric tons of cobalt in batches in 2026 from industry veteran Rami Weisfisch, with a total value of nearly $115 million at current prices. The material is mainly stored in Europe and North America and is expected to be shipped to the United States for inclusion in its strategic stockpiling program for critical minerals, aimed at reducing reliance on China in the supply and processing of key metals. The transaction is also seen as marking the conclusion of Weisfisch’s five-decade career in the cobalt industry.

News on February 24, 2026: Glencore announced on February 17, 2026, that its Lion Smelter located in Steelpoort, Limpopo Province, successfully completed the first phase of ferrochrome production on February 16, 2026, following the smooth restart of 50% of its capacity.

Glencore has repeatedly faced severe criticism over the pollution issues caused by its Horne smelter in the Rouyn-Noranda region. To complete the preparatory work aimed at reducing pollutant emissions, Glencore has set a rectification deadline for the Horne smelter of January 31. In a statement, Glencore said, "At this stage, certain key issues remain unresolved. It is essential to break the current deadlock immediately to ensure the continued operation of the Horne smelter and the company’s Montreal refinery, as well as to secure the investments needed to support the future development of the smelter."

According to foreign media reports, Glencore has been purchasing Russian copper on the LME and plans to ship it to China. According to LME data, in the past few trading days, the LME Rotterdam delivery warehouse has received delivery requests for approximately 15,000 mt of Russian copper. This move will exacerbate the further depletion of LME inventories, deepening the LME backwardation structure.

Glencore has been buying Russian copper on the LME and plans to deliver it into China.In the past three trading sessions there have been requests for delivery of about 15,000 tons of copper from LME warehouses in Rotterdam, according to exchange data, drawing down available exchange inventories to the lowest in a year. SMM thinks this activity will decrease the inventories in LME and intensify the Backwardation structure of LME.

It is reported that Glencore, a global commodity giant, is preparing for a potential major merger by transferring overseas assets to its Australian subsidiary through a large-scale restructuring. The restructuring involves coal mining operations in Canada, South Africa, and Colombia, as well as copper resources in Argentina and manganese, chromium, and vanadium operations in South Africa. Previously, Glencore had publicly discussed the possibility of spinning off its coal division and had attempted merger negotiations with Rio Tinto. This restructuring will consolidate most of Glencore's assets onto one platform, streamlining the structure of its copper assets and preparing for future transactions. Ben Cleary, a portfolio manager, stated that Glencore appears to be ready for restructuring.