teck resources ltd nyse teck the diversified mining smelting and refining company based in canada had a stellar recordbreaking third quarter as it capitalized on the increasing global commodity prices according to predictions the firm is on the right way to overtaking the stellar results heading into q4 don lindsay chief executive of teck resources said in a conference call with analysts “it was a record quarter but it will likely be exceeded by q4… if you look at the pricing we’ve experienced in october it’s higher than it was in september right across the board” the economic rebound triggered by ceasing covid restrictions and successful vaccination rollouts around the world sent commodity prices to skyhigh levels this means that in the third quarter teck resources could increase the price of its key products especially steelmaking coal which jumped to 237 per ton significantly up from 102 in the same period of 2020 further the company’s realized zinc price went up from 105 a pound to 136 as the realized copper price reached 428 per pound regarding such results lindsay said “this is a very exciting time for our industry and for teck in particular there are opportunities ahead with global growth and the transition to a lowercarbon economy will drive new copper metal demand and in the near term given the current commodity outlook we have the ability to generate significant ebitda and free cash flow” adjusted earnings per share were 188 above the rbc estimate of 142 and consensus of 146 while adjusted ebitda hit 2096 million above the estimated 1899 million and consensus of 1768 million “the stronger financial results were driven by a higher realized coal price and higher copper and zinc sales” the firm asserts further according to an analysis by rbc capital markets teck reiterated its 2021 guidance and noted that the construction of the quebrada blanca stage 2 qb2 mine in chile remains on track with first production expected in the first half of 2022 still due to challenges at the port and tailings facility the company expects to increase qb2 capex guidance by up to 5 with q4 results “and could see its covidrelated cost guidance be increased as well” according to circulating information teck expects to provide updated capex guidance for qb2 with q4 results in february and it expects its capex costs to jump 5 above the current 526 billion estimate due to challenges at the port and tailings facility “the company also noted its covidrelated costs of 600 million could be higher we currently estimate 60 billion in capex for qb2 including covid costs vs the current 5 inflated capex number plus covidrelated costs of 61 billion” rbc capital markets states in the report although qb2 remains the company’s cash cow and main project teck pointed to cost burdens given the soaring diesel prices and ensuing issues with supplies and labor that are affecting the supply chain “we don’t know how it’s going to evolve obviously there’s supply disruptions in the global economy all over the place and so we want to make sure that we flagged that we’re going to hit with it too” lindsay said the rbc report states that while teck reiterated its guidance the company noted it expects inflationary pressures to impact q4 and 2022 operating costs and expects its coal site costs and transportation costs to be at or above the higher end of the range for this year “tecks total liquidity as of october 26 2021 is 54 billion including 04 billion in cash as of the end of q3” disclosure no positions in any companies mentioned