Glencore’s (GLEN) financial statements are far from opaque; quite the opposite, in fact. But you get some idea of the number of moving parts in the business from the $9.6bn (£7.2bn) on the balance sheet given over to physical forwards, swaps and various other forms of derivatives.
Shareholders in the FTSE 100 group will be pleased with its progress in the first half of the year, a period characterised by volatility and increased risk in global energy markets due to events in the Middle East – fertile ground for Glencore.