FOURTH-QUARTER DATA
BHP posts 8% rise in iron-ore production
The producer expects to book charges of $546m in the second half of financial 2017
Melbourne — BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner, reported that its fourth-quarter iron-ore output rose 8% on capacity additions and supply-chain improvements. Output was about 60-million tonnes in the three months to June 30, from 56-million tonnes a year earlier, BHP said on Wednesday. This compared with a 61.5-million tonne median estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. BHP forecast that output for 2018 would gain as much as 4% to between 275-million and 280-million tonnes. Production of 268-million tonnes was recorded in financial 2017, compared with an average estimate of 267.1-million tonnes among analysts’ estimates. The producer expects to book charges of $546m in the second half of financial 2017 following a six-week strike earlier in 2017 at Escondida in Chile, the world’s biggest copper mine. Iron-ore prices have rebounded since June on record crude steel production in China and surged on Tuesday after Rio Tinto Group said it had cut forecasts for 2017 shipmen...
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