The company’s metallurgical coal output was 5% down to 8.4 million tonnes during the quarter as a result of reduced Australian production as Riverside reserves are depleted. Dragline outages at South Walker Creek and Saraji, which were longer than scheduled, also dragged production down.

The Goonyella opencut increased production to 1.7Mt, offsetting the decline. The Dendrobium and Broadmeadow longwall mines, both commissioned last year, continue to ramp up production but the latter operation has been struggling this quarter.

BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance mines in Queensland produced 6Mt saleable coal during the quarter and 19Mt for the year to date, while BHPB Illawarra operations produced 1.7Mt and 5Mt respectively. BHP Mitsui Coal produced 763,000t and 2.2Mt.

During the quarter, 18.6Mt of thermal coal was produced, down 7% on the previous year, attributed to significantly higher than average rainfall at the South African Ingwe operations and a longwall move at San Juan Coal in New Mexico.

For the year to date, BHPB mines produced 64Mt of thermal coal, on par with last year’s output.

With a March output of 11.6Mt, the company’s South African operations produced the bulk of the thermal coal output during the quarter. US mines produced 2.8Mt, Australian mines 1.9Mt and Colombian mines 2.3Mt.

The company’s shiploader 1 at Hay Point Coal Terminal became fully operational on April 13, following a 15-week shutdown for repairs.