At the peak of the environmental, social, and governance frenzy in 2021 as investors piled into green assets, Anglo American demerged its South African thermal coal mines with then chief executive Mark Cutifani citing the need to “act responsibly”.
In the next two years, Glencore — the world’s biggest publicly listed coal producer — made core earnings of $51bn and returned a record $17.4bn to shareholders thanks to skyrocketing coal prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled energy markets.
As prices cooled last year, the Swiss miner and commodities trader pledged to follow Anglo by separating into a coal producer floated in New York and a metals company as part of its takeover pursuit of Canada’s Teck Resources, which was plotting a similar break-up.