LONDON, March 17, 2026, 14:21 GMT
Glencore’s own delayed share-price tool showed the London-listed stock at 527.3 pence by 13:30 GMT on Tuesday, up 11.3 pence on the day, as investors weighed a Reuters report that the miner had tapped stocks from China’s Wuxi exchange to meet supply commitments. 1
That matters because the stock is back within a few pence of 530p, Glencore’s 2011 IPO price and a benchmark management has watched closely. Cobalt, one of the group’s key battery metals, is also in a far tighter market than it was a year ago. 2
Reuters reported on Monday that Glencore had pulled sizeable cobalt stocks from Wuxi after Congo’s export curbs tightened the market. Congo accounts for 72% of global supply, Glencore plans to export 22,800 metric tons of cobalt from the country this year against 33,500 tons produced there last year, and cobalt prices have jumped 160% since February 2025 to $57,320 a ton. 3
The shortage reaches beyond electric vehicles. Cobalt is also used in military equipment, and Reuters reported in February that Glencore had agreed to buy nearly 2,000 metric tons from industry veteran Rami Weisfisch, with the material expected to head to a U.S. stockpile under Project Vault. Gary Nagle said last month Glencore would take part in the program. 4
The broader tape was supportive. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% by 1042 GMT and the energy sector hit a record high as oil jumped after renewed Iranian strikes on the UAE, while the STOXX 600 added 0.3% and Brent held above $100 a barrel. 5
Strategy is still part of the valuation case. “I do believe that consolidation can be good for our shareholders,” Nagle said after Glencore’s February results, and Reuters reported on March 13 that the company believes a rally in coal prices and its own shares has improved its hand for any future discussion with Rio Tinto once the current six-month cooling-off period under UK takeover rules ends. 6
Fund managers still see other routes. “The next step may be to sell off assets individually … to create a more concentrated copper and trading business that could attract a higher multiple,” Aberdeen investment manager Iain Pyle told Reuters in February. George Cheveley, portfolio manager at Ninety One, said coal cash flow remained “very valuable” to Glencore, while the company also pledged a $2 billion shareholder return despite a 6% fall in adjusted EBITDA, a measure of operating profit. 7
But the trade is not clean. Reuters market reports showed investors bracing for higher inflation and shifting rate expectations if oil spikes further, while Glencore still has operating snags after workers at its Townsville copper refinery in Australia went on strike over pay. Any Rio revival remains frozen for six months after February’s failed talks, so for now the shares are still chasing, not clearing, that 530p marker. 8
