Glencore chief calls Qatar's bluff on Xstrata

Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg called Qatar's bluff yesterday, giving the strongest sign yet that he will not cave in to its demands to hike his £30bn offer for Xstrata.

Mr Glasenberg, pictured, rebutted the Qatari sovereign wealth fund's claim that Glencore's offer for Xstrata undervalued the FTSE 100 miner.

Qatar has significantly increased its stake in Xstrata to 11.7 per cent since the deal was announced in February, making it the second-biggest shareholder after Glencore, with 35 per cent, and effectively giving it the power to block the transaction on its own.

Arguing it was not a "must-do-deal", Mr Glasenberg said he could easily walk away, spend a few years developing Glencore through alternative acquisitions and then come back to Xstrata.