China’s Zijin Vies With Glencore After Record Year For Profits

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China’s Zijin Vies With Glencore After Record Year For Profits

(Bloomberg) — Zijin Mining Group racked up record annual profit after a growth burst that made the ******** firm as big as global commodities giant Glencore Plc., although it has softened its output targets for this year.

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Net income for 2024 rose 52% to 32 billion yuan ($4.4 billion), the company said in a preliminary results statement on Tuesday. Zijin’s market capitalization is now roughly on par with Glencore after it ramped up copper output and enjoyed record-high gold prices last year.

But there are signs of a slowdown in the immediate pace of expansion, with Zijin lowering its output target for copper by about 6% to 1.15 million tons. The foray into lithium has also faltered: it produced very small volumes last year and slashed its production goal for 2025 by around 60% to 40,000 tons.

“The company has strategically reduced production targets given the sluggish earnings

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in the near-term,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Grant Sporre said in a note. But it’s still on track to reach its five-year targets by 2028, he said, and could deliver compound annual earnings growth of 30% from 2023 to 2025.

Zijin’s shares fell 1.5% in Hong Kong.

Zijin has grown aggressively in the past decade, becoming a major global copper supplier by building out big new projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in China. Like rival miner Rio Tinto Group, it has made lithium a key pillar of its future ambitions, aiming to become one of the world’s biggest producers.

The lithium push has been stymied by a torrid market, and last year it postponed two new projects in Argentina and western China. A near-90% slump in prices of the battery metal form 2022 has forced swathes of companies worldwide to rein in their expansion plans or cut output.

While some analysts forecast a smaller global surplus of lithium this year, the ongoing rout has hurt margins for miners, hammered listed producers and fueled a spurt of dealmaking. Last week, Zijin announced plans to buy a stake in a domestic lithium and potash miner, Zangge Mining Co., for $1.9 billion.

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