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Glencore Q3 2026: Horne Smelter Stabilized as Recycled Feed Gains Weight in Copper and Cobalt

Glencore held 2026 production guidance and expects Marketing Adjusted EBIT above $5 billion. For e-scrap sellers, the story is Horne: Quebec's new framework and resumed investment steady one of North America's largest electronic-scrap smelters, while DRC cobalt quotas lift demand for recycled battery feed. Continue reading below.
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Glencore plc (LSE: GLEN) · Mining, metals processing, recycling and commodity marketing
· Sector module: smelters and refiners (primary)
· Lifecycle role: materials buyer and recycler (end-of-life electronics including circuit boards and components, lithium-ion and NiMH batteries, high-grade copper scrap) through the Horne smelter and CCR refinery in Quebec, sampling plants in East Providence, Rhode Island and San Jose, California, Altonorte in Chile and Sudbury in Ontario
· Period: calendar Q3 2026 production (report of October 29, 2026); latest financial results are for H1 2026 (August 5, 2026)
· Figures in US dollars; production in metric tons

1. Operational summary

Glencore produces, processes, recycles and markets more than 60 commodities. For ITAD providers and electronics recyclers in North America, its most important asset is the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, which Glencore describes as one of the largest recyclers of end-of-life electronic products in North America. Horne feeds copper anode to the CCR refinery in Montreal, and Glencore’s Rhode Island sampling plant sends all the electronics-industry material it receives to Horne.

Glencore’s Q3 production report showed own-sourced copper up 3% year to date and full-year guidance maintained, with copper toward the lower end of its range. Its custom smelters, which process third-party concentrates and recycled materials, produced 8% less copper cathode, citing lower copper grades and furnace downtime. The decisive recycling development of 2026 sits outside the quarter’s numbers: after suspending Horne investments in February, Glencore resumed its emissions-reduction projects in June once Quebec passed a law setting the smelter’s regulatory framework through 2033.

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Author: David Daoud | Principal Analyst

David Daoud has researched the mainstream IT hardware market since 1996 and expanded into hardware disposition research in 2003. He has spearheaded the creation of IDC’s GRADE certification. Since then, David has been providing consulting and expert advice to companies looking to establish best practice in their IT equipment decommissioning and helped leading ITAD service providers assess demand, understand competition, and forecast what’s to come. David is currently the Principal Analyst at Compliance Standards, which focuses entirely on the end-of-life of IT equipment. He can be reached at 754-229-0095 or at ddaoud@compliance-standards.com
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