Bogota, May 9, 2026, 08:07 COT
- Colombia is pushing Glencore to open discussions with La Guajira authorities and local communities ahead of Cerrejón’s 2034 concession expiration.
- Cerrejón turned out 16.8 million tonnes of coal in 2025, marking a 12% drop from 2024 levels, following output reductions flagged the previous year.
- Glencore published its new government-payment report this week, pushing tax, royalties, and transition issues right back into focus.
Colombia’s government is turning up the heat on Glencore plc, urging the miner to kick off formal negotiations about eventually shutting down Cerrejón. Authorities want Glencore at the table with officials and local leaders in La Guajira, where the vast coal mine has become a flashpoint over jobs, public funds, and Colombia’s push for an energy transition. The Ministry of Mines and Energy issued its request on May 8. According to Reuters, neither Glencore nor Cerrejón responded to requests for comment.
The 2034 deadline, once a distant marker, is now front and center in political debates. Glencore still holds the concession at Cerrejón, securing its mining rights for years yet, but the ministry wants negotiations focused on jobs, retraining workers, channeling investment into energy, and developing clean-energy projects before those final years close in.
Glencore’s timing isn’t ideal here. Cerrejón turned out 16.8 million tonnes in 2025, dropping by 2.3 million tonnes from 2024. Glencore’s total energy-coal production slipped 2% to 98.0 million tonnes. For 2026, the company is guiding between 95 million and 100 million tonnes of energy coal.
“We don’t have to wait for the remaining years,” Mines and Energy Minister Edwin Palma said, according to Reuters. The ministry’s push: negotiations need to run through a tripartite transition committee that brings together companies, Indigenous communities, local authorities, and the national government. Reuters
Glencore snapped up full control of Cerrejón when BHP and Anglo American moved to offload their 33.3% shares in 2021. Back then, Glencore pointed out that the mine’s concessions run until 2034, and argued the acquisition suited its approach for a managed wind-down of coal.
So Glencore is now holding the exposure that two major mining rivals decided to walk away from. For Colombia, that means a single firm to engage as President Gustavo Petro’s administration seeks to pivot away from fresh coal and hydrocarbon projects, aiming instead at renewables.
Glencore isn’t budging on its broader production outlook. On April 30, Chief Executive Gary Nagle described first-quarter output as “largely in line” with forecasts, adding that full-year 2026 guidance is “unchanged,” despite Cerrejón-related cuts impacting coal volumes. Glencore
Glencore, meanwhile, released its 2025 Payments to Governments Report—part of its obligations under UK disclosure and transparency regulations. The company said it will submit the report to the Financial Conduct Authority’s National Storage Mechanism. These filings detail payments like taxes, royalties, and levies, which remain especially sensitive for extractive firms working in lower-income areas.
The government’s request doesn’t actually shut Cerrejón or alter the concession terms. Sorting out who foots the bill for new jobs, energy projects, and community representation still lies ahead. Coal prices could also determine if output continues for the life of the contract. Stalling only adds political and social risk, but probably won’t shift near-term production.
The Colombia dispute drops yet another asset-level challenge onto a company already juggling coal cash flow with copper, cobalt, zinc and transition metals. Glencore bills itself as a producer and marketer spanning over 60 commodities, with a workforce topping 140,000 across 30-plus countries.
London markets were closed for the weekend. As of 16:58 GMT on Friday, Glencore’s website had the company’s London-listed stock at 563.50 pence, a slip of 0.90 pence. The London Stock Exchange normally operates Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time.
