By: Miningmx

Glencore's earnings from trading commodities roughly doubled in the first half of the year, as the Israel-Iran conflict supercharged profits across the world’s biggest energy traders, it was reported today.

The Swiss company said in a production report on Wednesday that it expected first-half earnings of about $3.3bn in its marketing division, which includes energy trading. That would be the second-highest half-year result since the record profits of 2022, and roughly $1bn above analysts’ expectations, reported the Financial Times.

The division made $2.9bn for all of last year and a record $6.4bn in 2022, said Bloomberg News in its coverage. Glencore is already within reach of the top end of its $3.5bn annual target, though it gave no updated full-year guidance.

Rivals have posted similarly strong results: Trafigura reported profit of $4.1bn for the six months to March and paid a record dividend, while Mercuria’s net profit doubled over the same period to its second-highest first-half total ever.

The war effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in late February, disrupting crude flows, while attacks on regional smelters roiled aluminum markets and Ukrainian strikes on Russian fuel plants pushed refining margins to records.

Glencore also reported copper production up 15% year-on-year, though it trimmed steelmaking coal guidance and said copper costs ran higher than expected.

Barclays analyst Ian Rossouw said he expected a positive market reaction, while RBC’s Ben Davis called it “curious” that Glencore gave no further marketing guidance for the year, according to the FT.

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts said the unresolved conflict should extend trading opportunities into the second half. Glencore reports full first-half results next week.