Glencore

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Glencore plc

logo
legal form public limited company
ISIN JE00B4T3BW64
founding 1974
Seat
management
Number of employees 160,000
sales $ 215.1 billion (2019)
Branch Commodity trading
Website glencore.com
As of December 31, 2019

The Glencore plc is the world's largest in commodities trading group of companies operating. Its operational headquarters are in Baar , Switzerland . Until May 2011 the group was entirely privately owned by management and key employees. Glencore shares have been publicly traded since going public on the London Stock Exchange in 2011. Glencore is a member of the UK's leading index, the FTSE 100 .

In terms of sales, Glencore is the largest company in Switzerland, ahead of Vitol . Around 62,000 people are employed directly or indirectly, 60,000 of whom carry out industrial activities at over 19 locations in 12 countries; around 2,000 employees in over 40 countries are responsible for marketing.

With sales of $ 205.4 billion and profits of $ 5.8 billion, Glencore was the 64th largest company in the world in 2017 according to Forbes Global 2000 .

Companies

The company was founded in 1974 by Marc Rich under the name Marc Rich + Co AG . After 1994 the management de facto forced resignation of the founder, the company name was on Glencore ( Gl obal En ergy Co mmodity and Re changed sources). Initially, Glencore focused on the physical trade in metals , mineral raw materials and petroleum. As a result, the company expanded into the energy sector with oil and coal products. By acquiring an established Dutch grain distribution company in 1982, Glencore entered the agricultural sector. The company continued to expand in the 1980s and 1990s through further acquisitions in mining , smelting, refining and processing.

The twelve people on top management are also the largest shareholders in Glencore. With a share of an estimated 10 percent, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors Willy Strothotte was the largest single shareholder. In April 2011, Simon Murray was appointed Strothotte's successor after talks with former BP CEO John Browne , who were considered preferred candidates, failed . Previously, former BP manager Tony Hayward was appointed to the board.

Murray's commitment was in preparation for the company's initial public offering, which should bring the company $ 12 billion. The IPO took place in London on May 19, 2011, and from May 25, 2011 the shares will also be traded in Hong Kong . Glencore was pre-valued at $ 61 billion and 16.9 percent of the shares went public; this represents the largest IPO in 2011. Swiss banks became the company's core shareholders. In the course of the IPO, a holding company was founded in Jersey . The parent company will be the legal seat of Glencore, while the operational headquarters will remain in Baar. According to the executive board , the IPO will have no impact on the business; according to experts, it will only serve to raise funds.

Today Glencore is one of the world's leading raw material groups. The business field includes the production, processing and trading of aluminum , aluminum oxide , bauxite , iron alloys , nickel , zinc , copper , lead , coal and oil , as well as agricultural products ( grain or rice , oil seeds , edible vegetable oils , sugar , biodiesel among others).

On February 7, 2012, the intended merger with Zug- based Xstrata was announced. After a detailed examination, the European Commission announced on November 22, 2012 in Brussels that the intended merger of the two groups to form Glencore Xstrata International plc had been approved. The only condition mentioned was the termination of the cooperation between Glencore and the zinc manufacturer Nyrstar. In April 2013, Chinese regulators also gave their approval to the merger on the condition that the Peruvian copper mine Las Bambas be sold and certain quantities of copper, zinc and lead be supplied to Chinese customers by 2020.

With the merger, CEO Ivan Glasenberg announced the elimination of the Xstrata headquarters in London and Zug and the dismissal of a large number of middle management. At the first general meeting of the merged group in May 2013, the previous Chairman of the Board of Directors, John Bond, was dismissed; his interim successor is Tony Hayward. For the first half of 2013, the Group reported value adjustments, particularly in the mining sector.

On April 14, 2014, the company announced the sale of Las Bambas for 5.85 billion US dollars (equivalent to 4.22 billion euros) to a Chinese consortium.

Holdings

The company holds, among others, well-known interests in the listed mining groups Minara Resources (Australia; nickel; 70.6%) and Century Aluminum (United States; aluminum; 44.0%). In Africa, the company holds almost 75 percent of Katanga Mining Limited in the Congo. Glencore has been the majority shareholder of the Peruvian mining company Volcan Compañía Minera since 2017 as the owner of 55.03% of the shares. In Asia, Glencore has had a stake in Kazzinc since 1997 ; since 2012, Glencore has owned 69.7 percent of the shares.

The subsidiary Century Aluminum is involved in aluminum projects in Iceland, for which, among other things, Europe's largest hydropower plant was built.

Another Glencore subsidiary holds 73.1% of the Zambian copper and cobalt mine Mopani .

Since the beginning of 2007 the company has been interwoven with the Russian holding company RUSAL . In March 2007, the former RUSAL divisions were merged with the aluminum group SUAL and Glencore's aluminum division to form the new United Company Rusal Limited (UC Rusal) based in Jersey . Since then, Glencore has held a stake of almost 10% in UC Rusal. From the end of 2009, Glencore held 50% plus one share in Biopetrol Industries AG in Zug with the option of expanding the stake to two thirds. In the course of 2010 the share was then increased to 60.4% and the company's headquarters relocated to Baar. In 2016, Glencore acquired a stake in Rosneft .

criticism

Alleged human rights violations

In 2008, Glencore received the negative Public Eye Swiss Award . The company is accused of unscrupulous actions against union members in Colombian coal mines. The mines would cause massive damage to the region's population and the environment. Numbers and business practice remained completely in the dark. In 2008, a Colombian paramilitary who killed trade unionists claimed Glencore sponsored them; Glencore rejected this claim.

In 2015, a small group of critical Swiss traveled to El Cerrejón, Colombia, to the largest open-cast coal mine in South America, to see, check and publicize the negative effects of mining on site. Glencore under Glasenberg endeavored - also thanks to this group - to curb environmental damage. But the effectiveness of such measures is limited, not least because the Colombian state is primarily interested in levies and taxes on the extraction of raw materials and not in the rights of the indigenous population and in intact nature.

The Bread for All Development Service criticized the business methods in the Congo as overexploitation and exploitation of the miners .

Alleged tax manipulation

The non-governmental organization Declaration of Bern accuses the group of manipulating its books of account through increased operating costs and unrealistically low raw material prices in order to avoid having to pay duties or taxes in developing countries.

According to a study by two international auditing companies on behalf of the Zambian tax authorities, the Zambian Glencore subsidiary is said to have inexplicably “low income” and just as inexplicably “high operating costs”. The copper from Mopani is sold to the Glencore headquarters in Switzerland via a British subsidiary, around 25% below the world market price. From there it goes to the customer at market prices. "So the profit is not made in Zambia, but tax-favorably in Switzerland, according to the auditors."

Several non-governmental organizations lodged a complaint with the OECD ; Glencore denied these allegations. The allegations made by the international audit firms are based on a draft report that was circulated in February 2011 and marked by the Zambian government as "confidential, preliminary and incomplete". The auditors did not take into account that almost half of Mopani copper is produced from foreign ores, which are processed in wage labor for a small processing fee. Therefore, Mopani does not make a profit for 100 percent of its production. Glencore's answers were published in detail on September 18, 2011 on the website of the SonntagsZeitung .

Mopani is audited annually by Deloitte . In response to a request from Glencore to submit the provisional draft report, Deloitte described fundamental flaws in the methodology and approach used and reiterated that the Mopani statutory accounts, which Deloitte had previously audited, had been given an unqualified opinion. The investigation fizzled out.

In November 2017, Glencore is listed in the Paradise Papers publications .

corruption

Brazil

Research by Public Eye and Global Witness revealed that Glencore and other major commodity trading firms were involved in the Petrobras scandal. Glencore allegedly paid bribes to Petrobras officials through dubious middlemen for benefits, better prices and more contracts. In 2014, the corruption affair surrounding the semi-state oil company Petrobras was brought up by the investigating authorities - under the code name " Lava Jato " ("washing plant").

Iraq

According to its own information in the stock exchange prospectus, the company is active in countries in which "according to the general opinion, corruption exists". In these countries, Glencore operates through intermediaries of various status, including sales representatives, business partners and consultancies. Some of them came under fire because they were accused of extensive corruption. In particular, Glencore was the largest buyer in the oil-for-food program in Iraq under Saddam Hussein , paying at least $ 3.2 million in surcharges, according to United Nations investigations , which were illegal under the terms of the program. Glencore pointed out that surcharges were billed by Pakistani national Murtaza Lakhani as a middleman for his increased risk. Glencore had not been informed that he had used it to finance bribes.

Congo

In 2012, Global Witness alleged that Glencore had secretly and at a fraction of the market value bought mining rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from Congolese state mining companies with the help of Dan Gertler . Gertler's assets are frozen in the US due to his business practices in the Congo under the Magnitsky Act . The Swiss NGO Public Eye filed a criminal complaint with the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office in December 2017 for Glencore's work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The organization demanded that the numerous indications of the suspected embezzlement in the issuing of licenses for copper and cobalt mines should finally be investigated by legal means.

Kazakhstan

Other allegations concern Kazakhstan , where the oligarch Bulat Utemuratow has given Glencore access to gold, lead and zinc deposits.

environmental pollution

The Mopani mine pollutes drinking water and emits sulfur dioxide. Some of the measured values ​​are 72 times higher than the Zambian limit values. The copper extraction causes environmental and health damage in the Zambian city of Mufulira , in which Mopani operates several mines and a copper smelter. Glencore is in the process of renovating the hut, but this would only shift the environmental problems. In a reply, Glencore pointed out that it was running a framework program (Glencore Corporate Practice, GCP) to "harmonize social, environmental, ethical and economic interests at all corporate levels" in the long term. Furthermore, the investments in the copper smelter would also be made with the aim of absorbing 97% of the sulfur dioxide emissions by the end of 2013. Since taking over the plant, the company has been working on reducing SO 2 emissions without closing the plant or laying off employees. The flue gas cleaning system was commissioned in the first quarter of 2014. Measurements commissioned by SRF broadcast Rundschau in February 2014 still showed “extremely high” sulfur dioxide values, and the company also confirms similar values ​​from its own measurements. As of the 3rd quarter of 2014, the new system has reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by 95%. It has been linked to numerous deaths by local residents but has not been recognized by Glencore Xstrata as medically unproven. The President of the Federal Air Hygiene Commission, Nino Künzli , contradicts this. In 2020, the Zambian Supreme Court ruled that Glencore had to compensate the family of a victim of emissions.

literature

Movies

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Board of Directors
  2. ↑ a b Annual Report 2019. Glencore, accessed July 2, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Glencore flotation to raise up to $ 11bn. BBC, April 14, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
  4. ↑ a b Secret revealed: Glencore is worth 61 billion. In: Tages-Anzeiger . May 4, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Marcel Speiser: Glencore is the largest company in Switzerland , handelszeitung.ch from June 21, 2017, accessed on July 3, 2017.
  6. ↑ PolyMet and Glencore Sign Strategic Marketing Agreement. (No longer available online.) Reuters, archived from the original ; accessed on November 22, 2011 (English).
  7. ^ Daniel Ammann : King of Oil: Marc Rich . From the most powerful commodities trader in the world to the hunted by the USA. Orell Füssli Verlag , Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-280-05396-6 .
  8. ↑ Markus Städeli: Light into the darkness of a very secretive company. Glencore makes more than $ 6 billion. In: NZZ am Sonntag. NZZ, October 5, 2008, accessed on November 22, 2011 .
  9. ↑ Markus Diem Meier: The most powerful manager in Switzerland. In: Tages-Anzeiger . March 2, 2010, accessed November 22, 2011 .
  10. ↑ Rita Flubacher: Not everything shines at Glencore. A huge appetite for risk and controversial personnel decisions: the raw materials group gives something to talk about before going public. In: Tages-Anzeiger . May 4, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
  11. ↑ Bettina Wassener: Glencore to Trade in London and Hong Kong IPO in: New York Times . April 14, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
  12. ^ Yuriy Humber, Kana Nishizawa: Glencore's Hong Kong Initial Offering May Lure Noble, Mitsubishi Investors. Bloomberg, May 25, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
  13. ↑ Glencore with the third largest IPO in Europe. In: NZZ Online. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , May 19, 2011, accessed on November 22, 2011 .
  14. ↑ Glencore: Off to Jersey. In: Handelszeitung . May 18, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
  15. ↑ Matthew Allen: Commodities giant Glencore goes public. Swissinfo, April 14, 2011, accessed on November 22, 2011 .
  16. ↑ Glencore and Xstrata: Zug mining giants merge to form a new giant from Cabo Ruivo , accessed on February 7, 2012
  17. ↑ Commodities - EU gives the green light for mega-fusion . RP-Online, accessed November 22, 2012
  18. ↑ The mega-merger of Glencore and Xstrata clears the last hurdle , Tages-Anzeiger of April 16, 2013.
  19. ↑ Glasenberg lets heads roll , Tages-Anzeiger from May 3, 2013.
  20. ↑ Shareholders serve Glencore Xstrata President John Bond , Tages-Anzeiger from May 16, 2013.
  21. ↑ Gerald Hosp: Glencore Xstrata with billions in value adjustment. , nzz.ch, August 20, 2013, accessed on August 20, 2013
  22. ↑ NZZ.ch: China buys Las Bambas copper mine from Glencore on April 14, 2014
  23. ↑ GlencoreXstrata.com: Sale of Las Bambas Copper Mine Project on April 14, 2014
  24. ↑ Chantal Peyer: How a global corporation exploits a country. (PDF; 50 kB) The example of Glencore in the DR Congo. Bread for All, March 10, 2011, p. 5 , archived from the original on March 9, 2014 ; Retrieved November 22, 2011 .
  25. ↑ Historia on the website of Volcan Compañía Minera (Spanish), accessed on November 19, 2019.
  26. ^ Zinc Copper Lead. (No longer available online.) Glencore, 2011, archived from the original on November 24, 2011 ; accessed on November 22, 2011 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.glencore.com
  27. ↑ http://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Katar-und-Glencore-stieg-bei-Rosneft-ein-article19276806.html
  28. ↑ Shortlist 2008. Public Eye Swiss Award. Retrieved September 3, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Michael Soukup: The Zug raw materials trader Glencore has been accused of human rights violations in Colombia. (PDF; 11.7 kB) Swiss trading colossus in the pillory. In: Sunday newspaper. February 10, 2008, p. 57 , accessed on November 22, 2011 (Issue No. 6 (Economy)).
  30. ↑ Rocio and Daniel Puntas Bernet: Is Glencore Doing Dirty Business in Colombia? A group of pensioners and teachers from the Säuliamt want to know - and confronts Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of the Rostoff company Glencore. A crime scene inspection in South America. The magazine N ° 16, Tamedia , Zurich, April 18, 2015
  31. ↑ Critical tones about the IPO of Glencore. Bread for All, April 15, 2011, archived from the original on February 10, 2012 ; Retrieved November 22, 2011 .
  32. ↑ a b c Michael Soukup: New book about commodity trading. Third world bloodsuckers. In: SpiegelOnline. Der Spiegel , September 24, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
  33. ↑ a b Achim Pollmeier, Georg Wellmann, Frauke Steffens, Sebastian Trepper: Raw materials: Dubious business of a global corporation? (Flash video with transcript) In: Monitor No. 623. ARD, May 19, 2011, archived from the original on March 21, 2012 ; accessed on November 22, 2011 ( PDF ( memento of October 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive )).
  34. ↑ Pascal Lechler: IPO of a controversial raw material giant. ARD, May 19, 2011, archived from the original on November 25, 2011 ; Retrieved November 22, 2011 .
  35. ↑ Manufactured losses: NGOs launch OECD complaint against Glencore's tax practices. Berne Declaration, February 12, 2011, accessed on November 22, 2011 .
  36. ↑ Sherpa: Tax evasion in Zambia: Five NGOs file an OECD complaint against Glencore International AG and First Quantum Minerals for violation of OECD guidelines. (No longer available online.) European Coalition for corporate justice, April 12, 2011, archived from the original on November 13, 2011 ; accessed on November 22, 2011 (English).
  37. ↑ Glencore comments on Mopani tax payments. (PDF, 38kB) Glencore, June 2, 2011, p. 3 , accessed on June 12, 2018 (English, press release).
  38. ↑ RAW BUSINESS. sonntagszeitung.ch, September 18, 2011, accessed on July 21, 2014 . , Statement from Clencore. (PDF, 37.8kB) (No longer available online.) September 17, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 22, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.sonntagszeitung.ch
  39. ↑ Mark Atkinson, David Quinlin: Re: Pilot Audit Report - Mopani Copper Mines Plc (the "Report"). (PDF, 124KB) (No longer available online.) Deloitte, February 18, 2011, archived from the original on October 14, 2011 ; accessed on November 22, 2011 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.glencore.com
  40. ^ Paradise Papers - Glencore's Congo Deal . Swiss radio and television , November 7, 2017, accessed on November 7, 2017.
  41. ↑ Public Eye: Petrobras Scandal: Glencore, Trafigura and Vitol in Brazil. Retrieved September 3, 2019 .
  42. ^ A b c Ken Silverstein: A Giant Among Giants , Foreign Policy , May 2012
  43. ↑ Global Witness: Secrecy surrounding Glencore's business deals in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (PDF, 229KB) Risks exposing shareholders to corrupt practices. May 9, 2012, accessed July 4, 2015 . Saved memento .
  44. ↑ United States Department of the Treasury , Office of Foreign Assets Control: Issuance of Global Magnitsky Executive Order; Global Magnitsky Designations
  45. ↑ Public Eye: Dubious door opener: Glencore in the DR Congo. Retrieved September 3, 2019 .
  46. ^ Glencore's backyard: How the Swiss extract copper in Zambia , SF 1, Reporter, broadcast on October 14, 2012
  47. ^ Glencore statement. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012 ; Retrieved October 28, 2012 .
  48. ↑ Glencore Sustainability report 2014 p. 89 Mopani hut project. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 10, 2016 ; accessed on January 23, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.glencore.com
  49. ↑ Res Gehriger: Deadly sulfur dioxide emissions - raw materials company Glencore has to compensate victims. In: srf.ch. August 25, 2020, accessed August 25, 2020 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 10 '52.3 "  N , 8 ° 31' 36.8"  E ; CH1903:  682488  /  226154