People are literally queuing up to invest in Glencore - the world's largest supplier and trader of commodities such as rice, wheat, sugar and coal. It is offering its shares for sale to the public for the first time today on both the Hong Kong and London stock exchanges.
However, the Swiss company has been criticised for its influence over global prices of food, fuel and other commodities as millions of poor people in the developing world struggle to cope with rising living costs.
About US$11 billion is expected to be raised from the sale, which is likely to make it the largest London Stock Exchange debut ever. Chief executive Ivan Glasenberg, who owns about 18per cent of the company, will be worth more than US$9 billion from the sale, known as an initial public offering. It will create at least three other billionaires, earn dozens of other people more than US$100 million and turn several hundred more people into millionaires.
Glencore, which is valued at about US$60 billion, controls huge quantities of the world's minerals, including 50 per cent of the copper market, 60 per cent of zinc, 28 per cent of thermal coal and 45 per cent of lead. It also controls 10 per cent of the world's wheat market and about 25 per cent of the world's barley, sunflower and rapeseed market.
Devlin Kuyek, a researcher with Grain, a non-profit international organisation working on food security, told the Al Jazeera TV station that Glencore has huge influence over global food prices.
'Glencore owns almost 300,000 hectares of farmland and is one of the largest farm operators in the world. They are engaging in speculation on the grain trade and have immense market power,' he said.