On April 22, Australian miner BHP Billiton announced its production report for the third quarter and the first nine months (ended on March 31) of the current fiscal year. The company noted that weather-related interruptions impacted petroleum, iron ore, energy coal, nickel, silver and lead production.
In the third quarter of FY 2009, BHP Billiton's iron ore production dropped by one percent to 28.19 million mt, compared to the same period of FY 2008. Current quarter production at Western Australia Iron Ore was affected by cyclone interruptions and the temporary suspension of operations following safety incidents.
For the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the company's iron ore output increased by six percent year on year and set a record of 87.37 millon mt, due to the successful expansion projects across all iron ore operations, the company stated.
On the other hand, the company's metallurgical coal production in the third quarter of 2009 was up by 11 percent to 7.6 million mt and also up by three percent to 26.956 million mt for the past three quarters.
The company said the rise in metallurgical coal was due to the full recovery from 2008 flooding in Queensland and due to operational improvements.