Every little helps. Anglo American’s institutional placing on Wednesday of its 49.5 per cent stake in Tongaat Hulett, the South African sugar and property company, could bring in about $550m. That is small beer alongside the miner’s $11.3bn net debt. But in straitened times Anglo has proved as opportunistic at raising cash as Xstrata is in pursuing a merger with it. Unable to find a buyer for Tongaat, Anglo’s placing provides a swift exit. To be fair, it had been on Anglo’s non-core list for some time as Cynthia Carroll, chief executive, turns the miner into an industrial metals group. Well-timed though the exit is – Tongaat shares were close to their 52-week high as sugar prices soar – Anglo appears increasingly desperate to bolster its cash resources.

It has avoided a rights issue, so far. Though it has $9bn of undrawn facilities, it lacks the financial flexibility of, say, BHP Billiton. Yet its recovery hopes are pinned on Latin American assets that come on stream only in two to three years. Little wonder, then, that Anglo is busily sucking in or saving money. This year it has raised $3.7bn from bond issues, $1.7bn from selling its remaining stake in Anglo Gold Ashanti, and $148m from its stake in aluminium producer Hulamin. It also passed on its final 2008 dividend, and pared capital expenditure.