Glencore profits halve on weaker commodity prices

(Sharecast News) - Mining giant Glencore saw earnings halve in the first six months of the year on weaker commodity prices. Adjusted core earnings, slumped to $9.39bn from $18.92bn a year earlier and against expectations of $9.9bn.

"In addition to the significant weakening in energy markets, the recent overall cycle of inflation, tighter monetary conditions and limited global economic growth, contributed to average period-over-period price reductions in copper, cobalt, nickel and zinc of 11%, 59%, 13% and 26% respectively," the company said on Tuesday.

"While lower energy prices have recently tempered some of the inflationary pressures in key Western markets, the restart of previously shuttered energy-intensive industries, including some steel, zinc and aluminium production, has been limited by weak end-user markets, particularly in Europe."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com