LONDON — Glencore International Plc has once again had to push back the completion date for its $33-billion merger with mining company Xstrata Plc.

Glencore told shareholders March 1 that it won’t be possible to complete the deal by March 15, a date that it described in January as the "long stop date" for finalizing the agreement (amm.com, Jan. 18).

The transaction, which will create the world’s fourth-largest diversified miner—with a large presence in such markets as zinc, ferrochrome, coal and copper—has been approved by regulators in Europe and South Africa.

However, Baar, Switzerland-based Glencore and Zug, Switzerland-based Xstrata are waiting for China’s Ministry of Commerce to ratify the deal.

There has been no suggestion that Chinese authorities will seek to block the deal, observers said, although they noted that Glencore had made some concessions in the process of winning approvals from other regulators. For example, it reached a deal on coal supply to mollify concerns in South Africa and promised not to buy zinc from Zurich-based Nyrstar NV for 10 years to win the approval of European Union regulators.

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin.