Coal news and updates

BHP’s met coal sees record production in fiscal 2015

Metallurgical coal production from BHP Billiton -- the world’s largest supplier of seaborne metallurgical coal, rose 13% in fiscal 2015 to a record 43 million tonnes.

Continued productivity improvements and the ramp-up of Caval Ridge helped achieve this record at Queensland Coal.

Also, an increase in equipment and wash plant utilization helped six other operations achieve record volumes.

Thermal coal production, on the other hand, fell 5% to 41 million tonnes. This was expected, as drought conditions and managing dust emissions at Cerrejon in Colombia impacted volumes.

Met coal production is expected to drop to 40 million tonnes in fiscal 2016 as operations at Crinum come to an end in the first quarter of 2016.

Wash plant shutdowns at Goonyella and Peak Downs mines are also scheduled for the quarter ending September 2015, which will impact production volumes for fiscal 2016.

However, going forward, some of this drop in production should be offset by the 1 million tonnes per annum Haju mine in Indonesia, which is expected to commence production during fiscal 2016.

Thermal coal production is forecast to remain largely unchanged in fiscal 2016 to 40 million tonnes. This assumes a full year production from the San Juan mine. BHP sold this mine to Westmoreland Coal Company, and the transaction is expected to close at the end of 2015.

Going forward, BHP’s thermal coal production should drop since the San Juan mine, which produced 5 million tonnes of thermal coal in fiscal 2015, no longer contributes to BHP’s thermal coal volumes.

source: http://en.sxcoal.com