Glencore H1 hit by commodities woes, impairment

Zurich

SWISS mining giant Glencore on Wednesday reported a first-half loss of US$676 million, a performance hit by what the company called the worst commodities market since the financial crash of 2008-2009.

In the first half of 2014, Glencore recorded profits of US$1.7 billion.

Its shares have fallen by 40 per cent this year, a plunge that has been driven in part by growing fears about a slowdown in China - the world's to…