Aluminum chief first senior executive to leave Glencore Xstrata

The head of Glencore Xstrata Plc (LON:GLEN)’s aluminum business, Gary Fegel, will leave the company this summer, becoming the first senior executive departure since the merger with Xstrata earlier this month.

Quoting a source familiar with the matter, Financial Times reports that Fegel, who has lead Glencore’s aluminum division since 2006, is currently the fifth-largest shareholder among Glencore’s partners and the ninth-largest overall. He holds a 1.2% in the group, which based on current share prices, makes it worth almost $800 million.

The unconfirmed news came as a surprise for analysts as Fegel was reconfirmed in the post only weeks ago, when the group unveiled the merged entity’s management team. Aluminum is also one of the few areas of Glencore’s mining portfolio that has no overlap with Xstrata.

Fegel’s departure from one of top jobs in the global aluminum market comes as CEO Ivan Glasenberg undertakes a three-month review of the division.