BHP iron ore division tops 200 million tonnes, mining giant lifts output by 20 per cent

RESOURCES giant BHP has produced record volumes of iron ore and coal after lifting its output of both commodities 20 per cent.

Heavy earth moving trucks at the Tom Price iron ore mine, operated by Rio Tinto Group, are lit up by the afternoon sun in Pilbara, north Western Australia on Wednesday, July 26, 2006. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, is losing the support of investors and steelmakers for its proposed $128 billion takeover of Rio Tinto Group. Photographer: Jack Atley/Bloomberg News

RESOURCES giant BHP has produced record volumes of iron ore and coal after lifting its output of both commodities 20 per cent.

BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said production across the group was up nine per cent for the 2013/14 financial year, compared to the previous year.

The star was again the company’s iron ore division, which produced 204 million tonnes during the year, while the metallurgical coal division produced 45 million tonnes.

The company expects to lift iron ore production a further 11 per cent in 2014/2015.

Total production from the company’s West Australia iron ore division, which includes the share owned by minority partners reached 225 million tonnes for the year, beating BHP’s own guidance of 217 million tonnes.

BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said the company was on track to achieve its target of 16 per cent production growth across the group for the two years to the end of the 2015 financial year.

He attributed the result to improved productivity across the company’s operations.

“Our focus on productivity has resulted in a significant improvement in operating performance at each of our major businesses this year, with a nine per cent increase in Group production and record output at 12 operations,” he said.

“We will remain focused on value over volume as we prioritise our brownfield development options and consider the next phase of portfolio simplification.”

The company received an average realised price of $US96 per tonne for its iron for during the second half, down from $US112 a tonne for the previous six months.

Metallurgical coal prices were also lower, with the company’s average hard coking coal price falling to $121 a tonne in the second half, from $142 a tonne in the first half, while weak coking coal prices fell to $104 per tonne, from $116.

BHP lifted its petroleum production four per cent to 246 million barrels of oil equivalent, with stronger crude oil volumes offsetting a slide in natural gas volumes.

Copper production rose two per cent to 1.7 million tonnes while alumina production was up six per cent to 5.2 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, the company said it expects to take an earnings hit of between $900 million and $1.3 billion and a result of impairment charges, mine site rehabilitation costs and redundancy payments.

Originally published as BHP iron ore division tops 200 million tonnes, mining giant lifts output by 20 per cent