Anglo American reportedly cutting up to 20% of head office jobs

Anglo American is rumoured to be cutting as much as 20% of its workforce at its head offices around the world.

The diversified mining giant, whose portfolios spans iron ore and manganese, coal, copper, nickel, platinum, phosphates and diamonds, employs a total of 151,200 worldwide.

However, Reuters cited sources suggesting that the company could lay off 5-20% of its staff at head offices in the aftermath of a recent plunge in commodity prices.

It was rumoured that the announcement could come alongside Anglo’s first-half results on 24 July.

"I can confirm that at group level there are major job cuts brewing," one source told Reuters.

Commenting on the rumours, analysts at Investec said: “The challenging commodity price environment is increasing the pressure for the group to cut costs.

“We note the weak link in the company’s portfolio being its iron ore exposure should prices for this commodity in particular continue to weaken as AAL sits higher up the cost curve than its diversified peers and is only just ramping up its major Minas Rio project.”

The stock was down 1.7% at 902.9p by 1038 BST on Friday, currently trading near its lowest levels in 12 years.