The story
Founded by Marc Rich and Pincus Green in 1974.1
1974–1994: formation and sale
The company was founded in 1974 as Marc Rich & Co. AG by commodity traders Marc Rich and Pincus Green. In 1993, some Marc Rich employees, led by Claude Dauphin, left to set up another trading company, Trafigura. In 1994, after failing to take control of the zinc market and losing $172 million, Rich was forced to sell his majority share in the company to Glencore International, the commodities trading and industrial company. Glencore's name is an abbreviation of "Global Energy Commodity Resources".
2005: dealings with "rogue states"
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National reported in 2005 that Glencore "has been accused of illegal dealings with rogue states: apartheid South Africa, USSR, Iran, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein", and has a "history of busting UN embargoes to profit from corrupt or despotic regimes". Specifically, the CIA alleged Glencore had paid $3,222,780 in illegal kickbacks to obtain oil in the course of the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq. The company denied these charges, according to the CIA report quoted by ABC.
2005–2011: Glencore, Dan Gertler, and the Congo
In 2005, proceeds from an oil sale to Glencore were seized as fraudulent gains as part of an investigation into corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2007, Katanga Mining (later acquired by Glencore) announced that its acquisition of a rival mining company, Nikanor plc, in a transaction valued at US$3.3 billion.
In May 2011, the company launched an IPO which valued the business at US$61 billion and created five new billionaires. Trading was limited to institutional investors for the first week and private investors were not allowed to buy shares until 24 May 2011.
2011: financial and accounting manipulations
In 2011, five non-government organisations filed a complaint to the OECD against a subsidiary of Glencore over allegations that a mine it owns in Zambia may not be paying enough tax on its profits. This complaint was due to alleged financial and accounting manipulations that had been supposedly performed by the two companies' subsidiary, Mopani Copper Mines Plc (MCM), to evade taxation in Zambia.
A draft Grant Thornton report alleged that tax avoidance by Glencore in Zambia cost the Zambian Government hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. The avoidance was allegedly facilitated through transfer pricing and inflated costs at Glencore's Mopani Copper Mine, which is controlled through the British Virgin Islands, a recognised tax haven. Glencore and its own auditor, Deloitte, rejected these allegations. As of 2013, Glencore's payments to Zambia's government had increased.
Due to weak global prices for the assets Glencore owned, particularly coal and copper producers, and for the commodities in which Glencore traded, the company showed a net operating loss of $676 million for the first half of 2015, and the company's stocks fell, as a result. Concerns cited by financial analysts to explain the falling stock price included a weak global commodity market and Glencore's high level of debt $30 billion. The company reduced its debt by selling off stock and assets.
2011: Associations with other mining companies
Glencore is also a large shareholder in globalCOAL, the online physical coal trading platform.
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Glencore owns 44% of Century Aluminum Co., 70.5% of Minara Resources, and 8.8% of United Company Rusal.
2011–2012: initial public offering
Glencore was the subject of an initial public offering (IPO) in May 2011 in a dual listing in London and Hong Kong valued at about $US60 billion. The 1,637-page document revealed invaluable information about this private company that had remained discreet for thirty-seven years. Ivan Glasenberg's shareholding was diluted from 18.1% before the IPO percent to 15.8% afterwards. Daniel Mate and Telis Mistakidis, zinc, copper, and lead co-directors were diluted from 6.9% to 6%. Glencore went public to raise gross proceeds of around $10 billion. According to Reuters, Glencore is known for its "opportunistic but lucrative acquisition strategy."
In May 2011, United Arab Emirates state-owned Aabar Investments confirmed an investment of $850 million in Glencore International plc as a cornerstone investor with an intention to invest an additional $150 million in the Global Offer. The investment made Aabar the largest cornerstone investor in the initial public offering (IPO) and the largest new shareholder of Glencore after its IPO, giving Aabar a 1.4% stake. The two firms intend to explore areas of co-operation.
In November 2012, Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments, a unit of Abu Dhabi's state-owned United Arab Emirates International Petroleum Investment Company, wrote off more than $392-million of its $1-billion investment into Glencore's IPO less than two years after investing it. Aabar Investments was the largest new shareholder in Glencore.
2012–2013: merger with Xstrata
Prior to its merger with Xstrata, Glencore is reported to have served as a marketing partner for the company. As of 2006, Glencore leaders Willy Strothotte and Ivan Glasenberg were on the board of Xstrata, which Strothotte chaired. According to The Sunday Times, by 2006, Glencore controlled 40% of Xstrata stock and appointed Xstrata CEO, Mick Davis.
In February 2012, Glencore International Plc, agreed to buy Xstrata Plc for £39.1 billion (US$62 billion) in shares. Glencore offered 2.8 new shares for each Xstrata share in agreed all-share "merger of equal". It is the biggest mining takeover ever, and after approval would create an entity with 2012 sales of US$209 billion. In June 2012, Glencore and Xstrata began to reconsider the proposed retention package for their merger, following shareholder opposition to a huge payout for executives. In total, 73 key executives stood to receive over GBP 170 million under the initial retention package.
In October 2012, BBC News reported that Glencore had more ships than the British Royal Navy. Glencore's operations in 40 countries handled 3% of the world's oil consumption. Xstrata's operations in more than 20 countries employed 70,000 people. According to mining analyst John Meyer, if the two companies merged into Glencore Xstrata, they would be the 4th largest commodities trader in the world.
Just before completing its forced April 2013 takeover of mining rival Xstrata as it awaited Chinese regulatory approval for its long-planned merger, the world's largest diversified commodities trader, the annual income of Glencore fell 25% percent, as its trading division offset the impact of weak commodity prices. Including the impact of an impairment related to a reclassification of its holding in Russian aluminium producer RUSAL, net income fell 75%.
On 2 May 2013, it completed the merger with Xstrata. On 20 May 2014, Glencore Xstrata changed its name to Glencore plc. After the merger with Glencore, Xstrata CFO Trevor Reid announced that he would no longer work as employee but would become a consultant. After 11 years of involvement, this marked a massive shift in the company's strategy and Xstrata was entering a post-Reid era.
2013–2020: further investment
"In Ecuador, the current government has tried to reduce the role played by middlemen such as Glencore with state oil company Petroecuador" due to questions about transparency and follow-through, according to Fernando Villavicencio, a Quito-based oil sector analyst, writing in 2011.
In May 2014 the company announced it would close its underground Newlands coal mine in Queensland, Australia in late 2015. The mine, begun in 1983, produced 2.8 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2013. The company had earlier suspended operations at its Ravensworth underground mine following falling coal prices, escalating production costs, and a higher Australian dollar.
In 2017, Glencore bought Chevron's Southern African assets for R1 billion. Glencore then began rebranding Caltex gas stations in South Africa and Botswana to Astron Energy - a then-new petroleum company based in Cape Town. Glencore also commenced with major infrastructure upgrades at the Astron Refinery (formerly the Caltex Refinery) in Milnerton, Cape Town, bringing production capacity for Western Cape use and African export markets up to 100,000 barrels per day.
In June 2018 Glencore purchased a 78% stake in Ale Combustíveis S.A., a Brazilian fuel distribution company. Through Ale Glencore aimed to expand its fuel distribution network by forging agreements with unbranded gas stations.
In February 2019, Glencore announced it would reduce production at one of its biggest copper and cobalt mines operations in Congo. The country's Mutanda mine produced 199,000 tons of copper and 27,000 tons of cobalt in 2018, accounting for roughly one-fifth of global cobalt production. The production curbs are likely temporary, as the company is exploring new mining techniques for the site.
GlencoreXstrata operates a gold mine in Nunavut, and nickel mines in Nunavik in Canada. In October 2020, Glencore provided $10 million in bridge financing to Falco Resources, a gold and copper miner operating in Quebec.
2020–present
In October 2020, Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg argued that there was no environmental benefit in divesting from coal assets since the spun-off coal mines would likely be taken over by other players without any regard for the Paris climate goals. He instead argued for capping coal mine production, thereby running them down, and using the thus generated cash to increase the production of other raw materials in high demand due to the global energy transformation, such as nickel, copper and cobalt. Two months later, in December 2020, Glasenberg announced that he will be retiring in 2021 thus stepping out of the CEO position after nearly 20 years. He will be succeeded by South African Gary Nagle, who is currently running the firm's coal business.
In February 2022, Glencore acquired Newmont's 18.75% interest in the MARA project in Argentina, which increased Glencore's interest to 43.75%. Glencore will pay $124.9 million at closing and $30 million in installments upon commercial production at an annual interest rate of 6% (not to exceed $50 million). MARA is a joint venture between Yamana Gold, Glencore and Newmont in the Catamarca province of Argentina. Proven and probable mineral reserves - 5.4 million tons of copper and 7.4 million ounces of gold.
In 2023, Glencore acquired a 56.25% interest in the MARA project from Pan American Silver. The company paid $475 million plus a royalty of 0.75% of the net smelter return (NSR). Once commissioned, MARA will be one of the world's top 25 copper producers, with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per annum for the first 10 years.
In August 2022, the market predicted that Glencore would deliver a record profit due to its ability to thrive in volatile markets, and particularly because of its coal business that was growing rapidly during the 2022 global energy crisis. The use of coal, even in Europe, is increasing by double digit percentages as it replaces expensive natural gas from Russia. While traditional mining companies such as BHP and Rio Tinto have experienced a slowdown due to a lower demand for iron and copper ores by China, Glencore was able to increase its business mostly with coal, despite the dirty image this form of energy has. Business analysts forecasted that Glencore's dividends could exceed $10 billion in total in 2022.
In September 2022, Glencore said it planned to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 aiming at a 40% reduction in carbon footprint by 2035 compared to its 2019 levels, making them on track with the Paris agreement on climate change.
In November 2023, Glencore acquired the steelmaking coal business of Teck Resources for $9 billion. At the same time, Glencore announced its intention to spin off its coal assets by 2025 into a separate entity that would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange with secondary listings on the Toronto and Johannesburg exchanges. The acquisition of Teck Resources' steelmaking coal business completed in July 2024, and Glencore announced the following month that the planned spin off of its coal assets had been abandoned.
In August 2024, Glencore announced its decision to retain its coal business, reversing previous plans for a spin-off. This decision came after extensive consultation with shareholders, with over 95% of those expressing a preference supporting the retention of the coal and carbon steel materials business. The company cited the potential for enhanced cash generation and the ability to fund opportunities in transition metals as key reasons for this strategy.
The acquisition of Elk Valley Resources (EVR) in July 2024 significantly expanded Glencore's coal operations. This addition is expected to increase the company's potential saleable coal by over 30% through to the end of mine life, with EVR's metallurgical coal mines having an average life of 31 years, extending beyond 2050. Despite retaining its coal assets, Glencore maintains its commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. However, the company's climate plan now requires updating to account for the increased coal exposure resulting from the EVR acquisition.
In December 2025, it was announced that Glencore had acquired a majority stake in FincoEnergies, a Netherlands-based fuel supplier, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition expanded Glencore's interests in downstream fuel distribution in north-west Europe.
From Wikipedia’s article on Glencore, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5