LONDON—Globally diversified miner Anglo American PLC said
Thursday it will incur $3 billion to $4 billion in write downs in
the first half of this year related to its Brazilian Minas Rio iron
ore project and certain Australian coal assets as a result of
falling commodity prices.
The world's fifth-largest diversified miner by market
capitalization said it has decided to report the noncash post-tax
impairment charges after taking into account "significant further
weakness and ongoing volatility in the prices of the bulk
commodities, particularly iron ore and metallurgical coal," during
the first half of the year. The company is due to report its first
half results next Friday.
The FTSE 100 miner has been restructuring its business in bid to
lift its shares, which last week hit a near 13-year low after
commodities prices slumped due to slower-than-expected Chinese
economic growth and a supply glut in many of the commodities it
produces.
Anglo American also reported mixed second-quarter output across
its commodities. Diamond output, its largest earnings driver last
year, fell 6% on the year to 8 million carats in the second
quarter, while iron ore output, its second-largest earnings
contributor last year, rose 6% to 12.2 million tons following a
ramp up of the Minas Rio iron ore project. Refined platinum
equivalent output rose notably in the second quarter while copper
and nickel output fell during the same period. Meanwhile export
coal output also rose.
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
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