(Bloomberg) — Zijin Mining Group’s annual profit hit a record after a surge that put the Chinese company on par with global commodities giant Glencore, even as it softened its production target for this year. Company (Glencore Plc.) quite.
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The company said in a preliminary results statement on Tuesday that net profit would rise 52% in 2024 to 32 billion yuan ($4.4 billion). Zijin’s copper production increased last year, gold prices hit a record high, and its current market value is roughly the same as Glencore.
But there are signs that the pace of expansion has slowed recently, with Zijin Mining lowering its copper production target by about 6% to 1.15 million tons. The push into lithium has also faltered: it produced very little last year and cut its 2025 production target by about 60% to 40,000 tonnes.
“Given the subdued near-term earnings outlook, the company has strategically lowered its production targets,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Grant Sporre said in a report. But he said the company was still on track to hit its five-year target in 2028 and It is possible to achieve a compound annual earnings growth of 30% from 2023 to 2025.
Zijin Mining shares fell 1.5% in Hong Kong.
Zijin Mining has grown rapidly over the past decade, becoming a major global copper supplier by building large new projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and China. Like rival Rio Tinto Group, the company has made lithium a key pillar of its future ambitions to become one of the world’s largest producers.
Development of lithium mines has been hampered by a hot market, and last year the company postponed two new projects in Argentina and western China. Battery metal prices plunged nearly 90% in 2022, forcing many companies around the world to limit expansion plans or cut production.
While some analysts predict the global lithium supply glut will shrink this year, the ongoing lithium supply collapse has hurt miners’ profits, hit listed producers and fueled a trading frenzy. Last week, Zijin announced plans to acquire a stake in domestic lithium-potash mining company Zangge Mining Co., Ltd. for US$1.9 billion.
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