(Reuters) -Global miner BHP Group reported a slight fall in third-quarter iron ore output on Thursday, as strong volumes were offset by weather disruptions from tropical cyclones Zelia and Sean.
After disruptions brought by Sean in January, Cyclone Zelia hit Western Australia’s vast Pilbara iron ore region in February and prompted BHP to temporarily pause its operations at Port Hedland, the world’s largest iron ore hub.
Western Australia’s cyclone season typically runs from November to April.
Despite bad weather, BHP clocked record nine-month output from its Central Pilbara operations, where the South Flank and Mining Area C sites benefited from the completed ramp-up of South Flank last year and a 13% boost in mining activity.
The world’s largest listed miner said iron ore production from its Western Australia mine operations on a 100% basis was 67.8 million metric tonnes in the three months ended March 31, compared with 68.1 million tons produced a year earlier.
That was in line with a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 68.03 million tons.
(Reporting by Roushni Nair and Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
Comments