Glencore Expects $3.3 Billion First-Half Marketing Profit After Iran War Fuels Market Volatility

Global commodity producer and trader Glencore expects to report adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of about $3.3 billion in its marketing division for the first half of 2026, buoyed by extreme market volatility during the Iran war that boosted trading profits.

The company disclosed the forecast on Wednesday in its half-year production report ahead of its detailed interim earnings due next week.

“We are pleased to report a strong production performance for the first six months of the year, where our key assets largely performed in line with expectations and previously communicated guidance,” Chief Executive Gary Nagle said.

Nagle said full-year production guidance for copper, zinc and nickel remained unchanged, while the midpoint of energy coal guidance was raised by 1 million metric tons and steelmaking coal guidance was lowered by 1 million metric tons.

“In our Marketing segment, we expect to report a strong half-year Marketing Adjusted EBIT of c.$3.3 billion,” he said.

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Glencore did not disclose how much of the marketing profit came from energy trading, but further details are expected when the company releases its half-year results next week.

The first-half marketing profit already exceeds the $2.9 billion adjusted EBIT reported for the division in the whole of 2025.

Glencore posted a record $6.4 billion in marketing EBIT in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted global energy markets and sent oil prices above $120 a barrel. The company said at the time the record performance was driven mainly by its energy trading business, which benefited from extreme volatility across crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), refined products, coal and logistics.

Trading houses and integrated oil and gas companies with large trading operations have benefited from heightened volatility in energy markets since the outbreak of the Iran war.