Glencore, a global resources giant which traces its roots back to a Swiss firm launched by the late Marc Rich, a trader who made it onto the FBI's 10 most wanted list, encapsulates all the woes of the commodities crash, and more.

Chained down by some $30 billion in debt, and hit by a commodity price collapse as China's economic boom slows and its hunger for raw materials wanes, the group based in Baar, Switzerland, has been at the mercy of volatile financial markets.

Since listing on the Hong Kong and London stock exchanges to great fanfare in 2011 as commodity prices raced higher, Glencore's share price has plummeted by more than 80 percent.

As evidence of the jittery climate, the group suffered a 30-percent drop on its share price in London on Monday and then enjoyed a 20-percent rally in afternoon trade on Tuesday after protesting that its viability is not at risk.

"Our business remains operationally and financially robust -- we have positive cash flow, good liquidity and absolutely no solvency issues," Glencore said in a statement Tuesday, stressing that it has secure access to funding thanks to its long-term relations with banks.

Created in April 1974 by Rich, the company began life humbly, trading in commodities out of his apartment in central Switzerland under the name Marc Rich & Co.

Rich made much of his money trading with Iran, however.

- Iran hostage crisis -

In 1983 he and a business partner were indicted in the United States on multiple counts including tax evasion and trading oil with Iran in breach of an embargo at the time of the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran.

Belgian-born Rich, who had five nationalities -- US, Spanish, Israeli, Belgian and Swiss -- was never to return to the United States to face charges.

He quit the firm in 1994, selling his stake for $600 million. Ivan Glasenberg, who led the buyout and took over the helm, went on to transform the group into Glencore.

After featuring on the FBI most wanted list for eight years, Rich was pardoned by then president Bill Clinton on his final day in power in January 2001, a decision that sparked political uproar. Rich died of a stroke in Lucerne, Switzerland, in June 2013.

The firm he founded started life trading in metals, minerals and crude oil before moving into agricultural goods. It soon started to expand from simply trading commodities to acquiring ownership of its own resources in the late 1980s by purchasing mines.

Glencore, led by chief executive Glasenberg who holds 15.8 percent of the company, moved into the big time when it launched a takeover offer for Swiss miner Xstrata in 2012.

The resulting merger created a $90 billion group and a new powerhouse in the global commodities industry, which boasted more than 180,000 employees and contractors around the world in 2014.

- Value 'could evaporate' -

The new Glencore Xtrata shares listed in London in May 2013 at 343 pence a share. On Tuesday they were trading at 82 pence.

Glencore Plc, as it has been officially named since last year, has suffered like its competitors from the commodities slump.

The world's most important raw material -- crude oil -- has roughly halved in price in a year. Iron ore has taken a similar dive. Other commodities, from coal to copper, soya to sugar, have slumped by 20-40 percent.

But more than many of its rivals, Glencore is also carrying a high debt load that worries investors.

On September 7, Glencore announced drastic moves to cut its debt by about a third, suspending production in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising $2.5 billion in share sales and suspending dividend payments until further notice.

Its shares briefly rallied, but the concerns over Glencore refused to go away.

On Monday, brokerage firm Investec fanned the flames again, warning in a research report to clients: "If major commodity prices remain at current levels, our analysis implies that, in the absence of substantial restructuring, nearly all the equity value of both Glencore and Anglo American could evaporate."

Glencore, however, said Tuesday that it is pressing ahead with measures to cut its debt by $10.2 billion.

"We remain focused on running efficient, low cost and safe operations and are confident the medium and long-term fundamentals of the commodities we produce and market remain strong into the future," it said.