Coal news and updates

Rio Tinto steam coal production growth flat in 2015

Amid the oversupply situation prevailing in international coal markets, Rio Tinto has reported a flat growth in production of thermal and semi-soft coal in 2015 versus a year ago, while registering an 11% growth in coking coal output year-on-year (y-o-y).

Total production of thermal and semi-soft coal was 22.285 million tons (mt) in 2015, which was almost the same as the numbers achieved in 2014, the company said in its quarterly results released on January 19.

In the December quarter, however, thermal and semi-soft coal production was up 9% y-o-y at 5.979 mt.

Coking coal production increased by 11% y-o-y to 7.859 mt in 2015, and by 16% y-o-y to 1.9 mt in Q4 of 2015. The Q4 production was also up 2% over the previous quarter (Q3 2015).

Commenting on the company's performance, Chief Executive Sam Walsh said, “Against a challenging market backdrop for the industry, Rio Tinto remains focused on operating and commercial excellence to leverage the low-cost position of our Tier 1 asset base. In 2015, we delivered efficient production, meeting our targets across all of our major products, while rigorously controlling our cost base. We will continue to focus on disciplined management of costs and capital to maximise cash flow generation throughout 2016.”

Production results for thermal and coking coal (in mt)

SOurce: ICMW