Sydney — BHP Billiton Wednesday said it reached record Australian iron ore production in the last six months of 2016, allowing the world’s largest miner to benefit from the recent price surge. Commodity prices for key metals like iron ore have jumped in recent months after a slump, bolstering producers such as Anglo-Australian BHP. The company said its mines in Western Australia produced record volumes of 118-million tonnes in the second half of last year, up 4% from the same period in 2015. Iron ore prices surged by 28% to $55 between the two periods, BHP said. For the December quarter, iron ore output rose 9% to 60-million tonnes compared with the previous year. "We have performed well during a period of higher prices, with record iron ore volumes achieved at [Western Australia Iron Ore]," BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement. "Our consistent delivery of operating and capital productivity, and strict adherence to our capital allocation framework have positioned us...
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