The company's initial targets were the newly developing South American energy and infrastructure markets. The Depression era, however, quickly wiped out much of Suedelektra's investments, and the company lay relatively dormant until the end of World War II.
Activity at Suedelektra picked up again following the war, and the company developed a strong assets portfolio throughout the Latin American region. Political upheavals in the region during the s and s once again dragged down the value of the group's investments; by the end of the s, many of Suedelektra's assets had been nationalized.
Although the company was to receive compensation for part of its holdings in the late s, Suedelektra abandoned its active infrastructure investments, converting to the less volatile securities market. Suedelektra also had gone public, with a listing on the Zurich Stock Exchange. By the end of the s, however, a majority of Suedelektra's stock was held by the Union Bank of Switzerland. In , Union Bank decided to sell its majority stake to the Swiss trading group Glencore International.
Formed in , Glencore had risen to become a major, diversified corporation, with a particular interest in the trading of natural resources as well as a number of industrial holdings. Glencore achieved a degree of notoriety, however, after its founder, Marc Rich, was accused of racketeering by the United States.
Rich later received a controversial pardon from personal friend and departing President Bill Clinton. Under Glencore, Suedelektra embarked on its second life. Nonetheless, the company clung to its roots as a venture capitalist, now with a focus more directed at the natural resources market.
In , Suedelektra entered the oil and gas industry with the purchase of a stake in Argentina's newly privatized Santa Cruz 1 oil fields. By , however, Suedelektra had acquired control of Santa Cruz, marking the company's transition from venture capitalist to an investment group with direct control of its holdings. Suedelektra's interests became increasingly industrial. In , for example, the company acquired Chromecorp Holdings, a major ferrochrome producer based in South Africa.
In that year, as well, the company acquired Chile's Forestal del Sur, a producer of wood chips for the paper industry. In , the company turned to Australia, entering the coal industry with the purchase of a 70 percent stake in Abelshore Limited. That purchase boosted Suedelektra's revenues by more than one-third. Fueling the group's expansion was the successful listing of Chromecorp on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that year. Yet Suedelektra remained something of an oddity within the overall Glencore group, which by then was more focused on its metals and mining commodities trading activities.
Suedelektra's traditional structure, as a hands-off investment vehicle, also appeared out of place in fast-growing Glencore International. Sauter and Conrad then launched Suedelektra on a corporate makeover, with a focus on the steel metals market.
In order to fuel its transformation, Suedelektra began selling off its now noncore assets in In , to reflect the change in the nature of its operations, Suedelektra took on the new name of Xstrata AG. Xstrata's transformation was completed, in large part, by , when the company expanded into the zinc and lead market with the acquisition of Spain's Asturiana de Zinc S.
The purchase placed Xstrata among the world's leaders in the zinc and lead market, paving the way for Xstrata's developing zinc operations not only in Spain, but in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The Asturiana acquisition, however, saddled Xstrata with a heavy debt, and the company was forced to consider raising equity to bring down its gearing ratio, which stood at a dangerous 80 percent. In , however, Sauter and Conrad abruptly resigned from the company.
Glencore, which was busy preparing the launch of a new publicly listed company, called Enex, for its own South African and Australian mining interests, went looking for a replacement for Sauter and Conrad. The merger had created BHP Billiton, the world's second largest mining group, with a listing in London but headquarters in Melbourne.
Davis, however, was unwilling to uproot his family to move to Melbourne. As a result, following the merger Davis was offered the somewhat secondary position as development director at the company's London office. Davis agreed, a decision that initially raised eyebrows in the mining industry. In Davis's own words, Xstrata was "going nowhere. That transformation came more quickly than Davis expected. A crane operator at our operations in Kazakhstan, Elena lives our Values.
In being responsible miners, we are committed to supporting those communities around us and championing quality education for local people. Through our partnership with the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa WESSA we support 17 eco-schools, providing young people with high-quality and sustainable learning opportunities. Protecting crucial infrastructure and supporting the construction of a more sustainable world.
The commodities we produce are integral into preserving our existing built environment while ensuring the cities of tomorrow are pillars of the CircularEconomy. Safety at work should never come down to luck. That's why we work hard to establish a strong work safety culture, using technology and PPE to keep our employees safe onsite and committing to open communication to ensure everyone arrives at work ready, and goes home safe at the end of the day.
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