Glencore has demanded a government handout for its struggling Mt Isa copper smelter and Townsville copper refinery, making it the latest global company seeking a bailout following a rescue of the Whyalla steelworks.

Sam Strohmayr, Glencore’s local chief operating officer for zinc and copper, said the Swiss mining group had lobbied politicians in Queensland and Canberra for support of those plants, after a surge in production mostly from China, had plunged the industry into crisis.