BHP Billiton Cuts Annual Coking Coal, Copper Production Guidance
April 25 2017 - 7:36PM
Dow Jones News
By Ben Collins
WELLINGTON, New Zealand--BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) scaled back
guidance for annual production of coking coal and copper after a
cyclone battered eastern Australia last month and a lengthy strike
at the Escondida mine in Chile.
BHP also narrowed its forecast for iron-ore output for the
fiscal year, after notching up a 3% rise in production of the
steelmaking commodity over the nine months through March thanks to
record volumes at its Western Australian operations.
Nine-month coking coal production increased by 2% year-over-year
to 31 million metric tons, as record output from five mines in
eastern Queensland state offset the impact of Tropical Cyclone
Debbie and the damage it caused to the rail network of operator
Aurizon Holdings Ltd. (AZJ.AU). Due to the rail damage, full-year
production guidance was reduced to between 39 million and 41
million tons.
Copper production for the nine months was down 20% to 939,000
tons due to the impact of the strike at the Escondida venture and
BHP said it now expected copper output for the fiscal year of
between 1.33 million and 1.36 million tons.
Iron-ore production for the nine months rose to 171.2 million
tons, although wet weather in the third quarter meant a drop of 11%
quarter-over-quarter to 53.58 million tons. For the fiscal year,
BHP said it now expected its share of output from its iron-ore
mines to be between 231 million and 234 million tons.
Write to Ben Collins at ben.collins@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2017 19:21 ET (23:21 GMT)
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