Glencore Crisis Hurts Most Those Who Have the Least
More than 4,000 will be laid off for mine modernization in Zambia, and workers there say they will struggle to find new jobs.
A child swings in a tree near a Glencore Zambian copper mine.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
For more than a decade, copper mines in Africa proved a lucrative bet for Glencore Plc, accounting for almost a third of its production of the metal in the first half of the year. Executives including the company’s billionaire chief, Ivan Glasenberg, were happy to highlight the economic benefits they brought to places like Kitwe, Zambia, where most of the local economy is dependent on the company’s Mopani mining complex.
Now, with $30 billion in debt, an 18 percent drop in copper prices and plunging shares, Glencore is targeting Kitwe and other Africa mining operations to help save itself.