Marketing

We are one of the world’s leading marketers of physical commodities.

We physically source commodities and products from our global supplier base – and sell them to customers all over the world. 

This means transporting commodities by sea, rail and truck, storing them, processing them, and delivering them to the time, quality and specification that our customers need.

Through these marketing activities, we set ourselves apart from companies who focus mainly on commodity production. 

The success of our marketing activities depends on the diversity of our commodities, suppliers, customers and assets. The commodities we trade include:

Our global suppliers

We sell commodities that we mine and produce ourselves. But through our marketing business, we also source from an extensive base of third-party commodity suppliers, in countries all over the world.

Our customers

We market to a broad base of industrial consumers, in sectors such as automotive, steel, semi-fabricators, power generation, oil and food through Glencore Agriculture. 

We aim to maintain long-term commercial relationships with our customers, who value our scale, reputation and market knowledge. 
 

Our assets

At the heart of our marketing business is a network of strategically located assets – allowing us to process, store and transport commodities and products.

These assets include warehouses, ships, storage, port facilities and commodity processing plants. 

Because we market commodities from supplier to customer, we are able to add value throughout the supply chain. We do this through:

Blending and processing

We can blend and process products to meet the specific needs of industrial consumers.

Storage and logistics

We can store and ship commodities as needed via our global network of assets – both to add value and to maximise arbitrage.

Of course, this requires high quality standards – so we adopt a rigorous approach to supply chain management. 

Financing

We can arrange short- and long-term financing for both customers and suppliers, helping ensure long-term supply and demand for commodities.

We aim to make money from arbitrage – in other words, buying a commodity at a certain price, and selling it at a predictably higher price, taking into account our costs.

Our global networks allow us to take advantage the following arbitrage opportunities:

Geography

We aim to source a product in one place, ship it, and then sell it at a higher price in another location.

Time

We seek to buy a commodity at a certain time, and sell it at a different time at a higher price. 

Production

We aim to buy products, add value by blending and processing them, then sell them for a higher price.