Plans to close its Horne Smelter plant, Canada's largest copper smelter, due to the need for significant environmental upgrades and high operating costs at the nearly 100-year-old plant.
The Swiss commodities giant currently operates the Horne and Canadian Copper Refinery (CCR) plants, both located in Quebec. At the Horne smelter, the copper smelter processes concentrates into anode copper, which is then converted into cathode copper at the CCR smelter.
Their annual production is more than 300,000 tons. A significant portion of mined copper is supplied to the United States, which is a net importer. The closures will affect about 1,000 workers at the two sites, and they estimate it will cost more than $200 million to upgrade them.
A company spokesman acknowledged that smelters around the world are facing significant "financial, regulatory and operational pressures," and Glencore's smelters in Canada are no exception.
The possible closure of Glencore's Canadian plants will strengthen global deficit forecasts, partly due to supply disruptions at major mines in Chile and Indonesia. Canada is now a major copper exporter and supplier to the US, accounting for about 17% of US imports and ranking second only to Chile.
Earlier this year, Glencore sold its Pasar copper smelter in the Philippines.
