Anglo American confirms 2021 guidance, value accretive 35% growth

Anglo American has provided an update on its strong operational and financial performance during 2021 and its sector-leading growth. This update will also include the latest guidance for the current and next three financial years, including in relation to capital expenditure and production volumes, and a progress update on Anglo American’s growth projects.

Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “Covid-19 has continued to pose challenges in 2021 particularly in those countries where vaccination uptake has been lower. We have kept our focus on keeping our employees and communities safe and encouraging vaccination at the earliest possible opportunity. We need to continue being prudent with this virus and we will continue putting the safety and health of our employees first.

“Anglo American is a resilient and agile business that is set to deliver 35% growth over the next decade at an attractive 50% margin. We are also increasing our near term performance improvement target to $3.5 – $4.5 billion by 2023, as we accelerate the delivery of our P101 and technology programmes, while also bringing growth projects onstream. First and foremost is our Quellaveco project in Peru in mid-2022, where we have also increased early copper production plans to create additional value.

“We are clear that climate change is the defining challenge of our time, and we have a crucial role to play in supporting the transition to a low carbon economy by producing many of the metals and minerals that enable decarbonised energy and transport. Of course, we are also moving at pace to reduce our own emissions and have committed to operate carbon neutral mines by 2040, while having an ambition to reduce our scope 3 emissions by 50% in that same timeframe.”

Anglo American maintained a strong performance during 2021 and expects further improvement in 2022:

• 2021 production up 7%: strong PGMs performance and higher rough diamond demand;
• 2021 unit costs up 10%(1): above CPI inflation and some production slowdowns;
• 2021 capex of $5.2 billion: lower due to Covid delays and supply chain disruptions;
• 2022 unit costs expected to increase by 4%;
• 2022 forecast capex of $6.2 – 6.7 billion, reflecting 2021 deferrals and Woodsmith addition.