(Reuters) -Canadian miner Teck Resources missed market estimates for third-quarter profit on Tuesday, pressured by lower prices for steelmaking coal and zinc, and reduced sales volumes of steelmaking coal and Highland Valley copper.
Excluding items, the company reported an adjusted profit of C$0.76 per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with the average analyst estimate of C$1.09 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
The company increased the capital cost guidance for its QB2 copper project in Chile to $8.6 billion to $8.8 billion from $8.0 billion to $8.2 billion previously forecast, adding that efforts are ongoing to mitigate the risks and cost pressures.
The company also said it expects to see annual production at the lower end of its 2023 guidance for QB2.
Teck’s third-quarter steelmaking coal sales were 5.2 million tonnes, missing the company’s forecast due to the impacts of wildfires in British Columbia and labor disruption at ports in B.C.
Copper this year got some support from optimism surrounding China’s reopening, although concerns over the ailing property market in the world’s second largest economy and rising global inventories weighed on its prices.
Teck, which has rejected twice a takeover bid from Swiss trading and mining firm Glencore, said its copper production climbed 8% and copper sales volumes rose 3% compared with the previous year.
The company lowered its 2023 copper production outlook to the range of 320,000 to 365,000 tonnes from 330,000 to 375,000 tonnes previously expected.
It also lowered 2023 steelmaking coal production guidance to 23 million to 23.5 million tonnes from 24 million to 26 million tonnes previously forecast, hurt by plant challenges this year.
(Reporting by Sourasis Bose and Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
