By Alexander Kozul-Wright
Alexander Kozul-Wright is a consultant for the Third World Network (TWN) based in Penang, Malaysia.
GENEVA (IDN) — At the end of October, Glencore—the world’s largest commodities trader—revealed that core earnings were on course to top $3.2bn, eclipsing the company’s guidance expectations. For context, last year’s trading profits of US $3bn (before tax and interest) marked a record high.
In 2020, the Switzerland-based group took advantage of an unprecedented drop in oil prices to buy cheap barrels of crude and then sell them in futures markets for significant profits.