Could Glencore's Mine Closures Mean a 2003 Repeat?

Writing for Reuters, Josephine Mason noted that analysts see potential for copper supply cuts by Glencore (LSE:GLEN) to provide a repeat of 2003, when Codelco stockpiled 200,000 tonnes of copper and shocked the market.
As quoted in the publication:

This time around hopes are pinned on the announcement earlier this month from Glencore of a sweeping strategy to shore up cash and cut spending, including plans to shutter two major, high-cost copper mines in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo over the next 18 months. That will cut company output by 400,000 tonnes and remove some 2 percent of global supply from the market.

For Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg, the plan helped placate shareholders worried about $30 billion (U.S.) of debt as prices of its main products from copper to coal sank to six-year lows amid worries about China’s waning appetite for such commodities. The company’s shares jumped 7 percent on the news, although they have since come under renewed pressure, hitting fresh all-time lows last week. They are down 60 percent so far this year.

For the beleaguered copper market, it was the first meaningful supply-side shock since the start of the current year-long copper rout. It has the potential to help trigger a long, slow revival in prices, analysts and other experts said.

Click here for the full Reuters article.