LONDON, March 11, 2026, 13:45 GMT
Glencore plc shares eased on Wednesday, with workers at its Townsville copper refinery in Australia threatening to strike and investors still weighing management’s latest effort to sell the miner’s standalone copper story. The shares were at 515.7 pence at 13:00 GMT, down 6.9 pence, according to Glencore’s website. 1
The timing matters. Glencore published its 2025 annual report on Tuesday and, two days earlier, Chief Executive Gary Nagle said the company would consider a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, or ASX, if that helped broaden the shareholder base after Rio Tinto stepped away from takeover talks. 2
Nagle told the Australian Financial Review an ASX listing could “give investors another option other than Rio and BHP,” while adding that Glencore would first need to consult shareholders and take advice. So the stock is again being judged on two things at once: delivery in copper and whether management can close a valuation gap without a deal. 3
The annual report kept the message fairly clear: Nagle again pointed to a “copper-led growth strategy”, with Glencore saying it expects annual copper production to exceed 1 million tonnes by the end of 2028 and reach roughly 1.6 million tonnes by 2035. 4
That is the piece investors keep coming back to. Copper, used in power grids, construction and electric vehicles, sits at the centre of mining dealmaking, and Glencore said in February that adjusted EBITDA, a measure of operating profit, fell 6% to $13.51 billion in 2025 even as it pledged $2 billion of shareholder returns and pointed to a 49% jump in second-half core profit; Nagle said the H2 “underlying momentum” was clear. 5
Now the Townsville dispute risks muddying that message. The Australian Workers’ Union said workers plan to walk out on Friday after nearly a year of failed talks on pay and conditions, with another bargaining meeting due on Thursday, while Glencore said it was disappointed by the planned action and remained committed to a fair agreement. The company has also said the refinery is still expected to lose money despite last year’s A$600 million government support package for the Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville refinery. 6
Rio’s exit in February removed one obvious route to a higher valuation. The proposed tie-up would have created the world’s largest mining company, but Rio walked away after the sides failed to agree terms, and Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina said a renewed approach was possible but “not our base case.” 7
That leaves Glencore leaning harder on execution and capital-market options. BHP’s own attempt to buy Anglo American fell apart, while Anglo’s planned all-stock merger with Teck Resources is the big copper deal still standing, a reminder that sector logic does not always turn into a deal. 7
The risk for investors is straightforward. A longer strike in Australia, more pressure on lossmaking processing assets or another drop in coal prices could make the standalone case harder to sell just as management asks shareholders to look past the failed Rio talks. Coal prices were one of the main drags on 2025 earnings. 6
Glencore said it expects to hold its annual general meeting on May 28, giving shareholders the next formal checkpoint to judge whether the copper plan is enough to keep the stock moving on its own. 2
