Anglo American copper, diamond output down in Q3, 2024 guidance unchanged

LONDON (Reuters) -Global miner Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) on Thursday posted double-digit falls in its third-quarter copper and diamond production but maintained its 2024 guidance for the commodities.

Anglo said its copper output fell 13% in the June to September quarter, while rough diamond production decreased by 25% on cuts due to prolonged lower demand.

Its De Beers unit is exploring options for further output cuts in future, Anglo said.

For the first nine months of 2024, copper output fell 4% to 575,000 tons and diamond production was down 21% at 18.9 million carats.

Anglo still expects to produce between 730,000 to 790,000 tons of copper and between 23 million and 26 million carats of rough diamonds this year, even as it assesses additional production cuts going forward.

The mining giant is restructuring its business to mainly focus on energy transition metal copper after fending off a $49 billion takeover offer from bigger rival BHP Group (NYSE:BHP) in May.