Low metals prices hit MMG’s H1 revenue

Global miner MMG, one of the operators of the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru expects the current rise in commodity prices to help in reviving the company’s revenues in H2 2020.

However, the company said short-term uncertainty remains due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a potential second round of shutdowns due to it. In the long term, MMG noted that market fundamentals remain strong. Geoffrey Gao, chief executive officer, MMG, said he expected a “copper intensive de-carbonization trend” to drive demand in the future, even though project complexities would continue to drive supply-side issues.

The Chinese firm, which operates mines in Kinsevere, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rosebury, and Dugald River, in Australia apart from Las Bambas, said that the first six months of the year were driven by low commodity prices especially for copper and zinc, which in turn impacted the firm’s revenue.

Production-wise, the company had withdrawn its 2020 guidance for Las Bambas in April owing to the uncertainty surrounding its restart due to the pandemic. At Kineserve, its 2020 copper guidance remains at 68,000-75,000mt of copper cathode, while its zinc production guidance for 2020 from Rosebury and Dugald River remains at 55,000-65,000mt and 170,000-180,000mt, respectively.

H1 2020 production (mt)

The company’s consolidated revenue from all its operations fell by 14pc to $1.19bn in H1 2020 from $1.39bn in January-June 2019 due to low commodity prices. The company reported a net loss of $182.7mn compared with a profit of $73mn during the same period under comparison.