More consolidation is needed, he told a private conference hosted by Goldman Sachs at LME Week. As it happened, Jakob Stausholm, the boss of rival mining company Rio Tinto, was also speaking at the event. Around the same time, Glencore and Rio held tentative talks about combining part or all of their business to create a $160bn mining behemoth.

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) and Glencore (OTCPK:GLCNF) (OTCPK:GLNCY) reportedly discussed a potential merger for months at the top level of both companies, in what would be the mining industry's largest-ever deal.

Glencore approached Rio Tinto late last year about combining the two big copper producers but the discussions are no longer active, a person familiar with the matter said. The talks between Rio, the world's No.