Glencore said it aimed to reduce its net debt "to the low US$20bns by the end of 2016".
It said it would sell assets and raise $2.5bn in a new share issue.
The
firm also said it would suspend some of its copper production
operations in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo for 18 months.
It
estimated that the suspension would remove 400,000 tonnes of copper
from the global market, equivalent to about a quarter of the firm's
total copper production.
It has also stopped dividend payments to shareholders until further notice.
Glencore shares
were suspended in Hong Kong ahead of the announcement but rose around
8% in early London trade. Last week they had been trading some 60% below
their level at the start of the year.
In August, the firm reported a first-half loss of $676m after being hit by falling oil and metal prices.
The Switzerland-based firm also said at the time that investment spending in 2016 was expected to be lower than this year.
Suspension
Glencore
says the Zambian and Congo mines due to be suspended are both decades
old with production costs close to double those of its more modern Congo
mines.
The suspension will allow Glencore to upgrade and expand the operations to reduce costs.
Prices for copper and coal - two of the company's most important products - have fallen to six-year lows in recent times.
Ratings
agency Standard & Poor's said last week it might lower Glencore's
credit rating if the giant did not reduce its debt.
"We would
likely lower the rating on Glencore if we perceive reduced commitment to
defending the rating or if commodity prices persist below our price
deck or fall further, absent material offsetting factors," the ratings
agency said at the time.
Glencore's chief executive Ivan
Glasenberg and chief financial officer Steven Kalmin said in a statement
on Monday the measures would not affect their core business activities.
They
also said the measures had "been designed to sensibly accelerate the
deleveraging of our balance sheet [and] maximise future cash-flow
generation in the current weak commodity price environment" .
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