MINING giant Glencore Xstrata raised its copper production by 18 per cent in the first three months of 2013 from output in the same period a year ago, it says.
In a quarterly output report on Monday, the new-born industry behemoth said it produced 321,000 tonnes of copper from January to March.
Swiss-based Glencore Xstrata said that the growth was driven by increased production at its mines in Peru's Antapaccay, as well as Mount Margaret in Australia, and in Katanga and Mutanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Africa alone, copper output increased by 44 per cent.
Glencore Xstrata noted that capacity at the Katanga and Mutunda mines was being expanded this year to give them an annual output of 270,000 tonnes and 200,000 tonnes.
In its energy sector, Glencore Xstrata's performance was modest, with coal production increasing by 1.0 per cent to 32.7 million tonnes.
Oil production, meanwhile, rose by 2.0 per cent to close to 5.4 million barrels.
Glencore Xstrata said that in its trading arm, metals and minerals had delivered "solid results" during the quarter despite dipping prices, while coal and oil saw "markedly improved profitability".
Its agricultural products business made a "slow start" to 2013, it said, underlining that the first quarter is often weaker than other times of the year.
Glencore Xstrata was created formally at the beginning of this month via a merger between commodities trader Glencore International and mining heavyweight Xstrata.
Chinese regulators had been the last to give their approval, and the merger was put on ice for several months pending their decision.
One of the conditions of China's green light was that Glencore Xstrata would sells its interest in the Las Bambas copper mine project in Peru to Chinese-approved players by the end of September 2014.
In a separate statement on Monday, Glencore Xstrata pulled the plug on a coal terminal project at Balaclava Island, near Gladstone in central Queensland, which had been planned by Xstrata.
