Glasenberg forced to trade Glencore out of a hole amid rout

London

GLENCORE plc's billionaire chief executive officer, Ivan Glasenberg, is having to trade his way out of a hole.

With profits from his mining division evaporating, the debt-laden commodity company's reliance on trading jumped to an unprecedented 76 per cent of earnings in the first half of last year. Ongoing losses in mining mean that percentage is likely to increase when Glencore reports results next week.

Investors will be hoping that Mr Glasenberg's 30 years of commodity trading expertise will pay off as …