London lags in mining listings as rivals surge

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has fallen behind its counterparts in New York, Toronto, and Sydney as a preferred venue for mining company listings.

Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, shared by the Financial Times, reveals that the market capitalization of London-listed mining stocks has dropped to US$272 billion in 2024 from US$322 billion in 2018. In contrast, mining sectors on exchanges in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. each exceed US$325 billion.

Since 2020, miners listed on the LSE have raised only US$8 billion, less than a quarter of the amounts raised in Sydney and Toronto.

Robert Crayfourd, a portfolio manager at CQS, told the Financial Times that the market is focused on the tech sector. However, he warned that London, which has historically been strong centre of mining stocks and finance, to not lose further ground. 

Currently, 171 metals and mining companies are listed on the LSE, representing 17% of the global market capitalization for the sector. However, most of this value is concentrated in a few major firms like Glencore (LSE: GLEN), Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO), and Anglo American (LSE: AAL). Over 100 LSE-listed companies have a market capitalization of less than £100 million (US$128 million).

London faced setbacks in 2022 when Russian gold producers delisted following the Ukraine invasion, and BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) moved its primary listing to Australia. Recently, Rio Tinto has faced pressure from activist investors to follow BHP’s lead, Glencore is considering spinning off its coal division for a New York listing, and Anglo American is selling assets after nearly being acquired by BHP.

With a market capitalization of £86 billion (US$110 billion), Rio Tinto is currently the ninth-largest company on the FTSE 100. Losing Anglo American or Glencore would further jeopardize the London market, Hayden Bairstow, a Perth-based analyst at financial advisory firm Argonaut told FT.