LONDON: Glencore said on Thursday its copper production rose by 3% in the first quarter on higher output at its South American operations, while zinc, lead and nickel output fell.

The London-listed company stuck to its production targets for 2021, after trimming coal guidance last year. It expects its full-year marketing earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) to be between $2.2 billion and $3.2 billion, the top range of its annual guidance.

Its copper production stood at 301,200 tonnes in the first quarter, but zinc fell 13,000 tonnes year-on-year to 282,600 tonnes and nickel was down 11% at 25,200 tonnes.

Production of battery material cobalt rose 11% in the same period.

Its quarterly coal production fell 23% to 24.5 tonnes, partly because of market-related cuts in Australia that started in the second half of 2020.

Oil output of 1.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) fell 41% year on year, after its Chad oil fields were placed on care and maintenance in April 2020.