Glencore Converts Shares in Century Aluminium, Remains Largest Shareholder

On July 2, 2025, Glencore International AG, which owns more than 10% in Century Aluminum Company(NASDAQ:CENX), reported the conversion of derivative securities into 16,477 shares at $19.42 per share.

Transaction summary

Key questions

What is the significance of the post-transaction ownership?
Glencore International AG now directly holds 27.5 million shares, while indirectly owning another 12.6 million shares through its subsidiary Gelcore AG. This represents 40.38% of Century Aluminum Company’s outstanding shares, maintaining its position as a 10% owner.

What is the recent performance context for Century Aluminum Company?
The Glencore International AG trade was close to the stock's July 10 closing price of $19.41 per share. The stock is up 8.4% year to date as of July 10, 2025.

Company overview

Company snapshot

• Century Aluminium produces standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products in the United States and Iceland.
• Operates a vertically integrated business model, including an anode production facility in the Netherlands.
• Serves industrial and manufacturing customers in North America and Europe.

Century Aluminum Company is a vertically integrated producer of primary aluminum with operations in the United States and Iceland, as well as an anode production facility in the Netherlands. The company produces both standard-grade and value-added aluminum products and operates in the United States, Iceland, and the Netherlands.

Foolish take

Glencore International AG is one of the subsidiaries of Glencore plc. The Glencore group is the largest shareholder in Century Aluminum, owning roughly 46% of the company’s common stock on a diluted basis, including convertible preferred stock as of March 31,. The above transaction, therefore, was simply a conversion of a portion of preferred stock into a set number of common shares of Century Aluminum.

Century Aluminum’s relationship with Glencore, in fact, goes beyond ownership. In 2024, 59% of Century Aluminum’s sales came from Glencore. So Glencore is not only a majority shareholder in the aluminum giant but is also its largest customer as well as a supplier. Aside from offtake contracts to buy a major portion of Century Aluminum’s output, Glencore supplies a portion of alumina and other raw materials to the aluminum producer.

Century Aluminum is the largest primary aluminum producer in the U.S. Although aluminum prices have been choppy this year, they’ve rebounded from April lows amid rising demand and falling inventories. With production from top aluminum producer, China expected to slow down this year as the nation hits its annual output cap of 45 million tons, Century Aluminum expects a global market deficit in 2025.

To top that, the Trump administration’s tariffs is already boosting domestic demand. President Trump recently doubled tariffs on aluminum imports to 50%. Century Aluminum is well-positioned to make the most of the changing dynamics of the industry.

Glossary

Derivative securities:Financial contracts whose value is based on the price of an underlying asset, such as stocks or commodities.
Insider:An individual or entity with access to non-public, material information about a company, often including large shareholders or executives.
10% owner:A person or entity that owns at least 10% of a company's outstanding shares, subject to special reporting rules.
Conversion:The act of exchanging one type of security, such as a derivative, for another, typically common shares.
Moving average (MA50/MA200):The average price of a security over the past 50 or 200 days, used to identify trends.
Transaction value:The total dollar amount of a specific trade or series of trades.
Post-transaction ownership:The number of shares or percentage of a company held by an investor after a transaction.
Premium (to moving average):When a transaction occurs at a price higher than a recent average, indicating a higher valuation.
Derivative conversion:The process of turning derivative securities, like options or warrants, into common shares.
Outstanding shares:The total number of a company’s shares currently held by all shareholders, including insiders and the public.
Vertically integrated:A company structure where multiple stages of production, from raw materials to finished product, are controlled by the same entity.
Value-added products:Goods that have been enhanced or processed to increase their worth compared to standard products.

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Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.