Glencore PLC's (GLEN.LN) Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg Tuesday said he thinks commodity markets have hit the bottom and that cuts in spending by the world's biggest mining companies will have a positive impact on prices in the future.
Reduced spending "is going to tighten up supply and you're not going to get new excess supply coming on the market," Mr. Glasenberg said on a conference call.
He said the company's sales to China and around the world "at the moment is pretty good."
"We continue to see good orders into China," he said.
Regarding copper, one of Glencore's most important commodities, Mr. Glasenberg said global inventories have dwindled, indicating a potential shortening in supply. "Our [copper] sales into China is still pretty strong," he said.
Mr. Glasenberg said Glencore's solid order book into China and elsewhere gives him confidence that the commodity market is stabilizing. "Have we bottomed? I think so," he said. Mr. Glasenberg added that he didn't want to predict where prices would go in the next few months.
The upbeat remarks run counter to some other mining executives who've said they continue to expect more pain this year. Anglo American Chief Executive Mark Cutifani last month said 2016 could be worse than last year for commodities.
"Opinions are divided on whether we have reached the bottom of the cycle," Mr. Cutifani said at a mining conference in South Africa. "So things may still get worse before they get better."
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
