Glencore, the world's biggest commodities trader, is considering a stockmarket flotation 35 years after it was founded by Marc Rich, the controversial financier, according to a report.

The secretive Swiss-based company has held talks with bankers about replacing its partnership structure with a stockmarket listing, the Financial Times said.

Glencore declined to comment to Agrimoney.com on the report. 

While a listing would mean lifting off the wraps it maintains over its financial affairs, it would also offer the group access to fresh sources of capital.

Growing trend

Many resources groups - including Xstrata, of which Glencore is the biggest shareholder – have already announced rights issues this year.

Among agricultural companies, Graincorp, the Australian grain handler in which Glencore has a 4.2% stake, has also tapped shareholders for cash.

However, a Glencore flotation was not imminent, and would depend on a recovery in commodity prices, the Financial Times said.

Colourful founder

Glencore's other agricultural interests include rice mills in Uruguay, the Moreno Group oilseed crushing operation in Argentina, and farming operations over 300,000 hectares of land in Australia, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Russia and Ukraine.

 It is also a big trader and refiner of sugar, a business handled through the UK, where the group is also due to open a bioethanol plant this summer.

Mr Rich, who founded the group in 1974, is credited as the founder of the spot market in crude oil, a trade which dragged him into controversy after he was indicted in the US on charges of illegally selling oil to Iran during the trade embargo following the 1970s hostage crisis.