Glencore books US$480 million provision covering entire Radiant World exposure: sources

Published Sun, Aug 30, 2026 · 08:57 AM

GLENCORE took a provision of about US$480 million on its exposure to Radiant World, the iron ore trader that is under pressure amid concerns it provided falsified documents to banks, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The provision effectively covers Glencore’s entire outstanding net exposure to Radiant World, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

Radiant World owes Glencore a total of US$951 million, while Glencore owes Radiant World US$471 million, the Financial Times reported on Saturday (Aug 29), citing a letter from Radiant World to Glencore.

The people familiar with the matter confirmed the figures, which according to the FT report include Glencore’s exposure to Sapphire Minmetals, another trading house that Glencore has said it views as being part of the same group. (Sapphire Minmetals’ chairman has previously disputed that, saying the companies are separate.) 

Glencore, which is one of the world’s biggest miners and commodity traders, said earlier in August that its exposure to Radiant World was “well below” US$500 million, which is its threshold for determining whether an item is material.

Chief executive officer Gary Nagle told investors on an earnings call that Glencore was seeking to exit its remaining contracts with Radiant World after stopping new business, and that it had taken a provision on its exposure to the company, without providing a figure. 

Glencore has been a major backer of Radiant World as the smaller firm grew to become one of the world’s top iron ore traders. Glencore has been a key counterparty in many of Radiant World’s trades, and routinely held a large financial exposure in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Bloomberg reported previously.

Late in 2025, Glencore acquired warrants that would have given it a minority ownership stake in Radiant World, although they have not been exercised.

While below Glencore’s materiality threshold, a loss of US$480 million is a black eye for the company – and in particular its iron ore unit led by Peter Hill, the head of marketing for steelmaking raw materials. It is about a quarter of the company’s average annual earnings before interest and tax over the past decade from its metals and minerals trading division, where iron ore is dwarfed in importance by metals like copper. 

The FT reported on Saturday that Radiant World had sent a letter to Glencore threatening legal action in a dispute over financial obligations between the two companies. The letter alleged a relationship between the two companies that went beyond that of a counterparty – Radiant World claimed that Glencore reviewed and approved the qualifications of potential hires, advised the company on fundraising and suggested the price at which it should enter into trades, the report said. 

“These claims are meritless and Glencore will vigorously contest them. Glencore has incurred losses and been exposed to risks by Radiant’s actions and will take appropriate action,” Glencore said in a statement responding to the report. It declined to comment further. 

Allegations under investigation

Bloomberg reported in late July that several major commodity traders had moved to cut ties with Radiant World amid concerns it provided falsified documents to banks. At least five banks have been told that some of the invoices that are underpinning their exposure to Radiant World are not genuine. Some banks have frozen its accounts or suspended credit lines, while major miners and Chinese buyers have withdrawn their business.

Law enforcement agencies including the US Justice Department and the Singapore police are investigating. Radiant World has not been accused of wrongdoing and investigations do not always lead to charges. Bloomberg reported previously that Glencore is among companies that has been contacted by the US Justice Department about Radiant World.

Glencore had worked to mitigate the scale of its potential losses for months before the situation reached a head, Bloomberg reported. The company has ended all business with Radiant World, a person close to Glencore said earlier this week.

A spokesperson for Radiant World had no comment on Saturday. The company has previously denied wrongdoing and said that it conducts its business to the highest commercial and legal standards.

As part of a statement to Bloomberg earlier this week, Radiant World said: “Radiant World’s trading relationships with major counterparties, including Glencore, were longstanding, substantial and well documented over nearly two decades. Glencore directly supported the financing arrangements connected to that trading. Its participation was instrumental to those arrangements, and it benefited substantially from them. The company rejects any characterisation of those relationships as anything other than open and well known to the parties involved.” BLOOMBERG