It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
World’s top miners need more ambition to meet climate targets
Bloomberg News | October 11, 2023 | Anglo’s copper business in Chile made history in 2021 by commissioning the country’s first green H2 station for carbon zero vehicles. (Image courtesy of Anglo America | Flickr.)
The world’s biggest miners including BHP Group Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group will face growing pressure from investors to properly measure their carbon footprints, according to an international research firm.
At issue is accounting for so-called Scope 3 emissions, or the greenhouse gases created by a company’s customers and suppliers. For miners that produce vast quantities of iron ore for steelmaking, a particularly carbon-intensive material that forms the backbone of the world’s housing and infrastructure, Scope 3 dwarfs the emissions that the companies are directly responsible for.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis examined five miners that have announced goals to become carbon neutral by 2050 — BHP, Rio, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., Vale SA, and Anglo American Plc — and found varying degrees of purpose in meeting that target.
“Rio Tinto and BHP have no measurable Scope 3 emissions reduction targets,” Simon Nicholas, a lead analyst at the institute, said in a report, which also described Vale’s efforts as “inadequate.”
Fortescue, the company founded by clean energy advocate Andrew Forrest, won some praise.
“With a target to reach net zero Scope 3 emissions by 2040, Fortescue clearly leads in ambition,” Nicholas said. “The other major iron ore producers need to increase their intent to avoid investor pushback.”
As the climate crisis worsens, investors are paying ever closer attention to a company’s environmental goals when assessing where to put their money.
A crucial point for miners is that the technological transition from coal-based steelmaking is accelerating. That means there’s “no longer any excuse for suppliers of raw materials to the steel industry not to have a measurable Scope 3 emissions reduction target,” Nicholas said.
(By Liz Yee Xing Ng)
Australian court backs coal mine expansions in key climate case
Bloomberg News | October 11, 2023 | Credit: Whitehaven Coal
An Australian court backed the government’s decision to approve expansions of two coal mines in a case that’s challenged the climate credentials of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s administration.
Justice Shaun McElwaine upheld a decision by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to authorize the Whitehaven Coal Ltd. and MACH Energy Australia Pty. projects, rejecting calls from activists for her to reconsider the climate risks posed by additional coal production.
“In no sense is this a case about the denial of climate science or the existential threat posed by climate change,” McElwaine said in a judgment Wednesday at the Federal Court in Melbourne. However, the case has raised issues for parliament to consider further on how global warming risks should be assessed, he said.
Australia, one of the world’s top shippers of fossil fuels, has seen a slew of legal challenges against projects over their forecast impact on global warming. Attention has also focused on Albanese’s support of a coal industry that delivered A$128 billion ($82 billion) in export earnings last fiscal year, even as his government pursues more ambitious cuts to domestic emissions.
Plibersek and the coal producers were joint respondents in the legal challenge made by the Environment Council of Central Queensland, an advocacy group that argued the minister acted unlawfully by not taking into account climate and ecological risks.
“Our environment laws are broken so long as they fail to tackle climate change,” Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said in a statement. “The Environment Minister should be on the side of the environment to protect our climate, our rivers, our reef and public safety instead of teaming up with coal and gas companies.”
Whitehaven has sought approval to continue operations at its Narrabri underground mine through 2044, while MACH — controlled by Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim’s Droxford International Ltd. — aims to extend production at Mount Pleasant to 2048.
Campaigners have also criticized Albanese’s government and exporters over their insistence that because global coal demand remains strong, any decision by Australia to restrict exports would only encourage other nations that supply lower-quality — and more polluting — raw materials to lift sales.
Australia’s center-left Labor government has granted approvals to four coal projects since taking office last year, according to campaign groups. Plibersek in February blocked development by mining tycoon Clive Palmer of the proposed Central Queensland coal project, citing environmental risks including to the Great Barrier Reef.
Coal exports from Australia are forecast to continue to expand through 2025, driven by growth in markets including India, the country’s industry ministry said this month.
(By David Stringer)
Stellantis, Rio Tinto raise bets on Argentina copper mining
Bloomberg News | October 11, 2023 | Los Azules copper project in San Juan, Argentina. (Image courtesy of McEwen Mining.)
Automaker Stellantis NV and miner Rio Tinto Group are upping their investments in a giant copper deposit in Argentina as the race for metals used in electric vehicles heats up.
Stellantis, the maker of Peugeot cars and Jeep sports utility vehicles, is investing 42 billion Argentine pesos ($120 million) to raise its stake in closely held McEwen Copper Inc. to 19.4%, the latter said in a statement Wednesday. Rio Tinto venture Nuton will spend $10 million to boost its holdings in the firm run by mining entrepreneur Rob McEwen to 14.5%.
The investments, which value McEwen Copper at about $800 million, will go toward advancing the company’s Los Azules project in San Juan province after more welcoming policies rekindled interest in Argentina’s vast deposits despite the nation’s economic woes and capital and currency controls.
The fresh funds give McEwen Copper more breathing space before going public. The firm will continue to evaluate the ideal timing for an initial public offering, chief Michael Meding said in a text message. It hopes to publish a feasibility study early 2025 and start producing copper toward the end of the decade.
For Stellantis, it’s a sign of how keen car companies are to lock in future supplies of the materials needed to move away from fossil fuels. Still, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts warned earlier this year that moves by automakers into the mining space may end badly, saying they’d be better off sticking to their core competencies and reducing their exposure to commodity price swings through hedging.
The investment comes less than two weeks before a pivotal presidential election in Argentina in which opposition candidates Javier Milei and Patricia Bullrich promise to deregulate the heavily controlled economy.
A slump in gold prices to a seven-month low in India may stimulate demand in the current festive season, when people traditionally buy more coins and ornaments.
Strong purchases during the October-December festival period, considered an auspicious time to own and wear gold, may underpin the global market. But the positive outlook, which follows a drop of almost 12% in purchases in the first half of 2023, is likely to increase imports and strain the country’s trade deficit that has already widened due to elevated oil prices.
“Overall, the sentiment is positive and this price drop has come at the best time for the market,” said Suvankar Sen, managing director of Kolkata-based Senco Gold Ltd. Footfalls have increased in stores and Indian demand is expected to be 10% to 15% higher than last year in the festival season, he said.
Gold prices in India, the world’s second-biggest consumer, have dropped about 7% from a record high in May. Although, the Israel-Hamas conflict has arrested a fall in global bullion prices, they are facing pressure from surging US bond yields due to expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep the monetary policy tighter for longer. Higher rates are typically negative for gold, a non-yielding asset.
The brighter demand prospect has buoyed shares of major jewelers in India. Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd. has jumped 15% so far this month, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Ltd. has gained 5%, while Tata Group’s Titan Co. has advanced almost 4%. Shares of SAIF Partners-backed Senco has doubled from the offer price since its listing on Indian exchanges in July.
The World Gold Council said in August that demand in India, the world’s most populous nation, may drop this year to 650 tons to 750 tons, the lowest since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country in 2020, from 774 tons in 2022. The group is expected to release its data for the July-September quarter and estimates for the full year soon.
In contrast to earlier expectations of a sharp decline, there are now hopes that demand could be flat this year, said Chirag Sheth, principal consultant with Metals Focus Ltd. “If prices remain around these levels until Diwali in November or fall more, then we can see a fairly good increase in sales,” he said, referring to the Hindu festival of lights.
Some of the price benefits for consumers will depend on the local currency, Sheth said, adding that a weaker rupee could negate the advantages of lower global gold prices. A depreciating rupee makes gold expensive in India as the nation imports almost all the bullion it uses, mainly from Switzerland.
(By Swansy Afonso, with assistance from Muneeza Naqvi)
WAIT, WHAT?!
X-Batt and Consol Join Forces for Advancements in Coal-Based Battery Technology
13-Oct-2023
Journalist: Motoki Sasaki
Battery material innovator X-Batt has entered into a partnership with Consol Innovations, a subsidiary of Consol Energy, to accelerate the development of coal-based anode technology.
The two companies recently unveiled their joint venture, known as C-Batt Innovations, which aims to advance the production of battery materials derived from coal.
Since its collaboration with the United States Department of Energy in 2020, X-Batt has successfully incorporated coal into its low-cost resin method, enabling the efficient domestic sourcing of anode materials. However, the financial terms and details of Consol's involvement in the joint venture were not disclosed. This partnership signifies the merging of innovation and sustainability, marking a notable shift in the energy storage and battery technology landscape.
X-Batt, founded in 2019, specializes in the development of high-capacity, cost-effective, and scalable lithium-ion battery components that contribute to the ongoing energy transition.In 2020, X-Batt secured a research contract worth $1 million from the National Energy Technology Laboratory, spanning three years. This funding was allocated to explore the utilization of coal as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries. Preliminary assessments showed that when coal is integrated with X-Batt's proprietary resin, it exhibits a higher anode capacity in comparison to graphite.
In June, X-Batt announced a collaboration with Semplastics, another innovative company, to investigate the technology's application in 18650 batteries, which are commonly used in commercial settings. The partners successfully tested coal-based technology in 18650 cells at the Battery Innovation Centre, proving its commercial viability with an 80% capacity retention after 1,000 full charge-discharge cycles.
While the partnership between X-Batt and Consol may offer hope to struggling coal operations, it is essential to note that the Global Energy Monitor recently reported that nearly one million coal jobs could disappear worldwide by 2050. This anticipated loss of jobs is expected to be significant in China and India due to an analysis of active and proposed coal mines. The report highlights that without plans for future operations or transitioning to a post-coal economy, the importance of government involvement and technological innovation in this transition cannot be overstated. This loss of jobs could equate to approximately 100 layoffs daily, reducing the global coal industry's workforce by 37% by 2050.
The partnership between X-Batt and Consol Innovations is geared towards advancing the development of coal-based anode technology for use in lithium-ion batteries. While this innovative approach holds promise for the energy storage and battery technology industry, it is juxtaposed with the broader challenges faced by the coal industry, where significant job losses are anticipated unless efforts are made to transition to a post-coal economy. This highlights the importance of government involvement and technological innovation in managing the challenges associated with the decline of coal.
IMPERIALI$M China’s copper buyers flex muscles in Codelco contract negotiations Reuters | October 11, 2023 | (Image courtesy of Codelco | Flickr.)
Russian copper exports to China and expectations of surpluses have emboldened Chinese buyers to try and dictate how much they will pay to Codelco for the industrial metal next year, industry sources say.
While European buyers have shunned Russian copper following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, traders and consumers in China, accounting for around half of global consumption of the metal used widely in the power and construction industries, continued to buy Russian metal.
The ample supplies give Chinese buyers an advantage in upcoming negotiations with Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, for the premiums they expect to pay above the London Metal Exchange benchmark price, the sources said.
“China isn’t looking great, there is no shortage of material. Codelco might be able to impose premiums in Europe, but not in China,” a copper industry source said.
According to sources with knowledge of the matter, China’s largest copper buyers expect to pay a premium of around $90 per metric ton next year for Codelco’s metal, 36% below what they are paying this year.
Meanwhile in Europe, Codelco has offered to sell copper at a premium of $234 a ton to clients next year, matching this year’s record after consumers in the region declined to renew Russian contracts and looked for alternative sources.
“Codelco isn’t in a good negotiating position with China,” another copper industry source said.
Codelco’s London office has not responded to requests for comment.
Industry sources say significantly lower shipping costs to China from Chile and rising output in China at 7.75 million metric tons in the first nine months, up 12.7% from the same period in 2022 were also important.
Last week, chairman Maximo Pacheco told Reuters that China remained an important market for the miner, accounting for 40%-45% of Codelco’s sales despite a recent restructuring of its sales strategy.
China’s September copper cathode output jumped to 911,800 tons, up 13% from a year earlier to a monthly record, research house Antaike said.
According to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG), the global refined copper market will see a surplus of 467,000 tons next year from a small deficit this year.
Russia in 2021 supplied the European Union with nearly 292,000 tonnes of copper, according to data from Trade Data Monitor, which showed EU copper imports totalling more than 801,000 tonnes last year.
(By Pratima Desai; Editing by Veronica Brown and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Mining News
Pan American Silver plans to restart its La Colorada mine in the coming days
(Kitco News) - Pan American Silver (NYSE: PAAS) (TSX: PAAS) yesterday announced that it will commence restarting operations at its La Colorada mine in Mexico on October 16, 2023, following a shift change and the transition from care and maintenance activities.
On October 5, 2023, Pan American announced the temporary suspension of operating activities due to security concerns at the mine site and the surrounding area following an armed robbery of two trailers of concentrate from the operation.
According to PAAS, there were no physical injuries to the company’s personnel in connection with that incident.
Pan American said it “acknowledges and appreciates” the rapid response and efforts of the Zacatecas state government and federal authorities in Mexico to improve security in the vicinity of the La Colorada mine and to provide an environment that allows for mine operations to resume.
Importantly, the company noted it does not expect the temporary suspension of La Colorada to have a material impact to its annual consolidated production and cost guidance for 2023.
Pan American Silver is a leading producer of precious metals in the Americas, operating silver and gold mines in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Brazil.
MONITORING AFRICAN COPPER AND COBALT MINING EMISSIONS FROM SPACE
NCAR researchers explore a new way to track the impact
of increased mining activities on the air quality in the
Copperbelt
OCT 10, 2023 - BY LAURA SNIDER
Emissions associated with mining operations in Africa’s Copperbelt can be quantified from space, according to new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
Mining for copper and cobalt in Africa has rapidly increased, the latter in response to growing global demand for electric vehicles, laptops, smartphones, and other devices that rely on lithium-ion batteries, the vast majority of which contain cobalt.
The new study is published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, and shows for the first time that satellite monitoring can provide valuable information on the impact of the mining boom on air quality in nearby towns and villages. The research also opens the door to the possibility of remotely monitoring increases and decreases in mining activities in a region of the world where surface monitoring is scarce and reporting by mine operators can be inconsistent or altogether absent.
“Mining operations can have a significant impact on quality of life for the people living nearby,” said Pieternel Levelt, director of NCAR’s Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Lab and senior author of the paper. “This research can help us better understand how severe and widespread those impacts may be in mining areas like the Copperbelt while also giving us a tool for estimating the growth of mining activities in remote regions that are driving those impacts.”
Africa’s Copperbelt straddles Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which produced 73% of the world’s supply of cobalt in 2022, according to the Cobalt Institute. Cobalt production in the Copperbelt increased about 600% between 1990 and 2021, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The vast majority of cobalt is produced as a byproduct of copper mining, though some copper mines do not produce any cobalt.
Most of the energy consumed in copper and cobalt mining — including the operation of large machinery and electricity production — is generated by burning diesel fuel, which in turn produces nitrogen oxides, a key ingredient in smog.
To quantify the emissions, the research team turned to data from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) onboard the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite (S-5P). TROPOMI can monitor a number of trace gases important for air quality, including nitrogen dioxide.
While biomass burning, urban activity, and other industrial operations beyond mining also produce nitrogen dioxide — as do some natural processes — the researchers found that they could distinguish the emissions from copper and cobalt mines in the data. They also found that the annual emissions from each mine strongly correlated with their annual metal production.
Average nitrogen dioxide detected by the TROPOMI instrument onboard the S-5P satellite over the Democratic Republic of Congo. The image shows the significant increase in nitrogen dioxide over a copper/cobalt mine (circled in yellow) compared to the city of Kolwezi (circled in yellow). Image courtesy: Pepijn Veefkind, KNMI
“We thought that these copper and cobalt mining operations could affect local air quality; we just didn’t know how much given the lack of ground monitoring in the region,” said NCAR scientist Sara MartÃnez-Alonso, who is the study’s lead author. “Understanding this is particularly important when mining-related activities proliferate in close proximity to — or even inside of — population centers, as is the case in the Copperbelt. With satellite observations we were able to quantify emissions from individual mines and put those emissions into perspective.”
The S-5P satellite that carries TROPOMI is polar-orbiting and passes over any given location on the Earth’s surface once a day, limiting the number of observations over the Copperbelt. A geostationary satellite over the continent could provide a much more in-depth picture of emissions in the region, providing hourly instead of daily observations, according to Levelt. Currently, there are no geostationary satellites over Africa or anywhere in the global South.
“A geostationary satellite over Africa could provide the data needed to create accurate air quality forecasts for populations that are at increased risk,” Levelt said. “Hourly observations over urban areas could show the daily evolution of pollution levels and sources, and the information could inform local regulatory agencies.”
CHILE
BHP averts strike at Escondida mine with preliminary union deal
Reuters | October 12, 2023 | Escondida workers on strike in 2017. (Screenshot from CNN Chile Video)
Global miner BHP reached a preliminary deal with the supervisors’ union at its Escondida mine in Chile, avoiding a strike at the world’s largest copper deposit, the company announced late on Wednesday.
In late September, the union’s members rejected a proposal from the company, prompting government mediation to avoid a work stoppage.
“It was agreed to extend the mediation for an additional day in order to finalise and sign a new collective bargaining agreement once it has been ratified by its members,” BHP said in a statement on Wednesday night.
“The company continues to operate normally,” it added.
In 2022, Escondida produced 1.05 million metric tons of copper.
Ex-Glencore CEO contender sets out to build a Chinese trading giant
Bloomberg News | October 12, 2023 | Kenny Ives (left), standing alongside Paul Akroyd, the former CEO of IXM. Credit: IXM
When Kenny Ives took over as boss of the trading arm of one of China’s top miners, his model was clear: “23 years at Glencore, and I loved it. So why would I do it differently?”
After just missing out on succeeding Ivan Glasenberg as head of commodities giant Glencore Plc, 46-year-old Ives is now running IXM – which as the trading arm of CMOC Group is a key link between China’s battery industry and the world. There, he’s spent the past year seeking to instill the hard-charging, hyper-competitive Glencore culture that his mentor was famous for.
Nine-to-five would no longer cut it – Ives started turning up at the once sleepy IXM offices in Geneva at 5:30 a.m. and the tall, intense Brit was often still at his desk at midnight. Lunch was out, replaced by brisk runs. Vacations no longer meant unplugging from work calls and messages. “When people take holidays at IXM (there are exceptions), people tend to switch off more or less entirely,” he wrote in an email to IXM managers, seen by Bloomberg. “Unfortunately, this business is one where you can’t switch off entirely if we want to win.”
Winning, in IXM’s world, means challenging the two giants of metals trading: Trafigura Group and Glencore itself.
“IXM were proud to be number three,” Ives said in an interview this week, speaking publicly for the first time since he was hired as CEO. “But CMOC and myself and the senior management team, we have aspirations to be more.”
The upheaval at IXM has been one of the major topics of discussion among the thousands of metals traders in London for LME Week. In a year, more than a fifth of the company’s staff – about 120 people – have left, some made redundant, some leaving of their own accord. At the same time, Ives has capitalized on the struggles of some of his rivals to go on a hiring spree, adding about 40 new employees, many of them alumni of Trafigura and Glencore.
But the whirlwind of changes Ives has wrought at IXM has implications far beyond the metals trading industry: its Chinese parent, CMOC, is overtaking Glencore as the world’s largest cobalt miner, which in turn makes IXM the world’s largest cobalt trader. It’s also a significant producer of copper, with plans to expand in nickel and lithium, and – crucially – has a strategic partnership with 25% shareholder Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s largest battery maker.
While China is the largest consumer by far of metals, the global trading industry has so far remained largely the preserve of companies like Glencore and Trafigura, based in international hubs like Geneva, London and Singapore. At a time when China’s grip on the supply chain for battery metals is causing consternation in western capitals, Ives’s success or failure in transforming IXM into a leading player in the global metals markets has wider geopolitical significance.
“The Chinese are very aware of the strategic dimension of sourcing commodities,” says Jean-Francois Lambert, a consultant and former trade finance banker. “The polarization in global politics makes it even more strategic for them to be there rather than relying on third parties.” Trading veteran
IXM, originally the metals business of agricultural trader Louis Dreyfus Company, started out as a trader of concentrates, or semi-processed ores bought from mining companies.
By the time LDC sold it in 2018, it was largely focused on generating profit from proprietary trading – betting on geographical and time spreads – while the business of buying, selling and transporting physical raw materials took a back seat, Ives says.
“When I arrived we had too many gaps,” he says. “We were very active in some metals and less active in others.”
While Ives is a seasoned veteran in commodity trading, this is his first job outside of Glencore. He grew up in Brighton, on the south coast of England, and once told an alumni website that he used to pay his school fees in cash from an old carrier bag. He joined Glencore straight out of university, working as a copper trader and briefly a grain trader before he moved to nickel and he became the division head in 2012. He left in 2021, during a broad changing of the guard after Glasenberg chose Gary Nagle as his successor.
He arrived at IXM at a low point for the company, with profit last year falling to the lowest in years as higher interest rates hit metals traders across the industry. Still, the company’s profit before tax is back on track this year to reach the $200 million that has been a high watermark until now. As the business grows, Ives says, he plans to “blow through those figures.”
For now, the company is still much smaller than Trafigura and Glencore, which dominate the world of metal trading. It traded 6.3 million tons of non-ferrous metals and concentrates last year, compared to 23.3 million at Trafigura and about 17 million at Glencore.
Yet CMOC and Ives have high aspirations. He wants IXM to expand in Europe and the US – and is adamant the business is far more than simply a sourcing operation for Chinese businesses. By combining CMOC’s mining operations with a trading business – just as Glasenberg did as he built the modern-day Glencore – the company can squeeze more profit out of each ton of metal, as well as identifying the right moments and opportunities to “deploy aggressively” and take large bets, Ives says.
“You can’t switch off entirely if we want to win”
While he says he isn’t trying to create “Glencore 2.0,” he argues that IXM can use the flow of commodities from CMOC’s mining business to build a larger trading operation, which can in turn help CMOC run its mining business more profitably. He plans to boost IXM’s physical trading volumes in concentrates, and also has an eye on his old stalking ground, the nickel market. “We’re able to leverage the marketing flow to build out a trading business,” he says.
There are already some signs that IXM is getting bolder, people inside and outside the company say. Early this year, it was proactive selling cobalt in China, pre-empting a market slump that has hurt rivals including Glencore. In May, it made waves on the London Metal Exchange with a large aluminum trade.
Still, some are sceptical that it will be possible to build a world-beating trading house under Chinese ownership.
Chinese trading companies’ overarching objective is to procure commodities more efficiently for China Inc., says Lambert, the former trade finance banker, and that takes away the flexibility and nimbleness a trader needs to make money.
But Ives argues that being owned by CMOC is in fact an advantage, pointing to the company’s rapid expansion in Democratic Republic of Congo, where many western mining companies refuse to invest. It also has investments in Bolivian lithium and Indonesian nickel.
“Chinese mining companies, they love a challenge and they clearly look at the world through a different lens,” he says. “I suspect that you’re going to see CMOC as an organization grow, which means our marketing business naturally grows.” Trader hires
The changes he has made in the past year have been about preparing for that growth. Among the people he’s hired are former Glencore traders Douglas Booth, Kapil Reddy Kunta, Han Cho and YB Nam; former Trafigura traders Gary Le-Men, Branko Buhavac, Saurabh Phadke, Julio Arce and James Scott; ex-Mitsubishi trader Kentaro Kimura and analyst Ryan Cochrane.
And, while there has been much reshuffling, many of the people he’s promoted are IXM veterans.
He has reorganized the trading teams to separate concentrates and refined metals, with the latter run by longtime IXM traders Tom Mackay and Adhitya Sethaputra as co-heads. Le-Men will run copper concentrates trading, while Xavier-Alexandre Ortiz oversees lead and zinc concentrates.
Ives has also brought a renewed focus on “traffic” – the less-glamorous teams of operators that handle the logistics of shipping goods around the world, but which are essential to ensuring that trades go smoothly.
It’s another element of the philosophy he has imported from Glencore, which ever since it was founded by Marc Rich in 1974 placed a high emphasis on the traffic department as the nerve center of the company, and for years insisted all junior employees work there for a spell before becoming traders. “I’m a great believer in hiring operators,” Ives says, “having come through the Glencore school in the 1990s.”
It’s not the only time he cites his Glencore experience – or his former boss, Glasenberg.
“While Ivan is no longer as outspoken, his infamous May 2013 quote lives on in pockets of Glencore – the winning pockets,” he wrote in his email exhorting employees not to switch off on holiday, before reproducing it: “I tell investors, come and meet my employees and tell me who you think is going to lie on the beach.”
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