London, March 2, 2026, 09:08 GMT — Regular session
- Glencore shares up 0.6% in early London trade, company data showed.
- Oil jumped as the Iran conflict lifted supply worries and hit risk appetite.
- Glencore-Merafe paused a retrenchment process in South Africa to March 31 after a lower power-tariff offer.
Glencore (GLEN.L) shares edged higher on Monday morning in London. The stock was up 0.6% at 537.3 pence by 0850 GMT, according to the company’s delayed share price tool. 1
Commodity markets were volatile as conflict involving Iran raised new questions over supply and inflation, pushing oil sharply higher. Brent crude was up around 10% near $79.90 a barrel and U.S. crude climbed 8.2% to $72.64, Reuters data showed; OPEC+, the producer group including Russia, agreed a modest 206,000‑barrels‑a‑day increase for April. “The disruption to global energy supply is substantial … this clearly adds upside risks to the oil price,” said Michael Langham, an emerging markets economist at Aberdeen Investments. 2
That supply risk is being felt most in Asia, the biggest oil-consuming region, where countries import about 60% of their crude from the Middle East, Reuters reported. The agency said ship insurers cancelled war-risk cover and that some 200 ships dropped anchor near the Strait of Hormuz, with tanker transit volumes already down. “Risk aversion from shippers is a real phenomenon,” Citi analysts wrote in a note. 3
The backdrop matters for Glencore because it sits on both sides of the physical market — mining and trading — and it tends to be pulled around when energy, freight and insurance costs gap out.
Company attention, though, was also on South Africa. The Glencore‑Merafe Chrome Venture said it paused a Section 189 retrenchment process — South Africa’s formal consultation route for layoffs — until March 31 after state utility Eskom put forward a tariff offer of 62 South African cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh, a unit of electricity). “The specific terms and conditions of the proposed tariff are critical,” the venture said, adding that commitments should not be “unduly onerous”. 4
Ferroalloy smelters are power-hungry and margins can turn on the tariff. Investors will be looking for signs the proposed deal can keep plants running without locking the venture into expensive take‑or‑pay terms.
But the early lift in the shares could prove fragile. If tanker routes open up quickly or the market decides the supply shock is manageable, crude could retreat and commodity-linked stocks could lose some support.
Glencore’s corporate calendar shows its first‑quarter production report due on April 30. The annual general meeting is set for May 28. 5
