22nd Jan 2014 06:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. reported Wednesday that global iron ore production for the second quarter grew 16% year-over-year, but remained flat sequentially.
Production of metallurgical coal grew 30%. Total iron ore production for the first half of 2014 increased 19%. The company also maintained its full-year production guidance for petroleum, copper, iron ore and coal businesses.
"Strong operating performance across our diversified portfolio in the December 2013 half year delivered a 10% increase in production and volumes are expected to grow by 16% over the two years to the end of the 2015 financial year," CEO Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement.
Meanwhile, smaller rival Rio Tinto PLC reported Wednesday that its global iron ore production for the fourth quarter grew 6% from last year.
Issuing its production report for the second quarter ended December 31, 2013, BHP said it recorded a 16% increase in production of iron ore to 48.87 million tons from the year-ago period. However, production remained flat with the prior quarter.
The world's largest mining company reported a 19% increase in first half production to 97.82 million tons from last year. Iron ore is the main raw material used for steel production. The company also achieved first half production records across ten operations and three commodities.
BHP noted that this was a strong first half of production as two of its major assets, Western Australia Iron Ore and Queensland Coal, achieved record production.
BHP's second-quarter production of metallurgical coal, which is also used in steel making, grew 30% from last year to 11.54 million tons, and increased 13% from the first quarter. Production for the first half also increased 22% to 21.73 million tons.
Meanwhile, energy coal production declined 5% from the prior-year quarter to 17.77 million tons. It also decreased 10% for the first half to 37.41 million tons.
The miner said its total petroleum production for the second quarter declined 4% from the year-ago period to 57.7 million barrels of oil equivalent or boe. Total petroleum production also decreased 1% in the first half.
The company's alumina production grew 10% to 1.35 million tons from last year. Aluminum production for the quarter increased 2% to 0.30 million tons from the year-ago period.
The company's copper production for the second quarter increased 6% to 439,900 tons, and production of Nickel grew 9% to 37,800 tons from last year.
For the first half of 2014, BHP's petroleum exploration expenditure was USD285 million, of which USD147 million was expensed. The company also spent USD219 million on minerals exploration, of which USD195 million was expensed.
Looking ahead to the full-year 2014, the company continues to expect total iron ore production of 192 million tonnes, total petroleum production of about 250 million barrels of oil equivalent, copper production of 1.7 million tonnes, and total energy coal production of 73 million tonnes.
BHP Billiton also noted that its share of capital and exploration expenditure for the 2014 financial year is expected to be USD16.1 billion, as planned.
"Iron ore and metallurgical coal were particularly strong and are very well positioned to achieve guidance, notwithstanding the general uncertainty that exists as we enter the wet season," Mackenzie added.
BHP closed Tuesday's regular trading session on the NYSE at USD66.30, down USD0.75 or 1.12% on a volume of 2.47 million shares. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has been trading in a range of USD55.66 to USD80.54.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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