The financial position of Glencore, the privately owned commodities trader, continued to improve in the third quarter, giving it more firepower to repurchase prized coal assets from Xstrata, an affiliated mining company, without threatening its credit rating.
Glencore’s balance of cash and undrawn credit rose to $4bn by the end of September as net profits also rose and net debt fell, according to credit analysts who saw quarterly financial data Glencore disclosed to its bond holders.
