London — Glencore is doubling down on coal, even as rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group move away from the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel. The company, run by former coal trader Ivan Glasenberg, made a surprise 11th-hour $3.5bn bid for a huge patch of thermal coal-rich ground on Australia’s east coast controlled by Rio Tinto Group and Japan’s Mitsubishi. Rio’s board will meet later this week to consider the proposal, which trumps an agreement made with a unit of China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining Company, according to a person familiar with the situation. The move puts Glencore at odds with most peers as coal loses ground to renewable sources in the global energy mix. The Swiss commodity trader and biggest exporter of thermal coal, used mainly for power stations, has consistently said coal is essential to the needs of the developing world in the long term, thanks to growing demand in Asia. "The fact that they are obviously choosing to grow that business while everyone else is running in ...
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