Glencore shares to start trading in Australia as miner hopes to boost valuation

MELBOURNE, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Glencore's shares are set to start trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday as the miner and trader hopes to secure a better valuation from Australia's mining-friendly investors who are seeking greater exposure to copper.

Glencore CEO Gary Nagle expects strong demand from investors betting on copper's role in electrification, he said on Friday, as demand rises for the metal's use in power grid upgrades, transport and AI data centres.

The Switzerland-based company's CHESS Depository Interests (CDIs) will trade in a market home to other large miners like BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue. Glencore shares already trade in London and Johannesburg.

Nagle has previously said he believes the $88 billion company can achieve inclusion in Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index within 12 months, but analysts see momentum behind the stock potentially propelling it into the top indexes in half that time.

Analysts and investors speculated Glencore's decision to list Down Under could help acclimatise those who had not seen value in its approach to Rio Tinto last year.

Rio Tinto walked away from takeover talks with Glencore in February, ending months of negotiations over a $240 billion tie-up that would have reshaped the global mining industry.

Nagle told reporters last week that a deeper local presence in Australia, where it produces coal, copper, zinc, lead and nickel, may yield business opportunities, although it had no set buyout list.

JPMorgan analysts said on Friday after a meeting with Nagle that Glencore's management team still saw merits in a combination with Rio Tinto and noted its shares had outperformed its Anglo-Australian rival by 10% since negotiations collapsed in February.

"M&A is seen as part of the growth strategy and it was noted 'who knows what happens in the future,'" the analysts said in a report.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Additional reporting by Polina Devitt in London; Editing by Jamie Freed)