The company’s Queensland operations were pinpointed by Cutifani as making strides in lifting productivity in a difficult global environment.

“Against a backdrop of weaker growth in the world economy in 2013, particularly in the emerging and developing economies, commodity demand remained soft with a decline in average realised prices for most of the commodities Anglo American produces,” he said.

“Despite the challenges, significant operating improvements in copper, metallurgical coal and diamonds in the second half of the year and the sharp fall in the South African rand in the final quarter drove a 6% increase in underlying operating profit to $6.6 billion, with underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increasing to $9.5 billion, up by 7%.”

Cutifani, who is an Australian who studied at the University of Wollongong and whose first job was in the Illawarra coal industry in New South Wales, praised the turnaround at the company’s flagship Moranbah North operation in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

“At our underground metallurgical coal mines, production improved by 30%, with Moranbah North lifting longwall output by 39% on the back of an improvement in cutting hours, an increase in automated cutting rates and reduced unplanned downtime,” he said.

Anglo’s metallurgical coal generated an underlying operating profit of $46 million, an 89% decrease, primarily owing to lower realised export selling prices, partly offset by increased production and sales volumes, the weaker Australian dollar and cost-cutting initiatives.

Its thermal coal division generated an underlying operating profit of $541 million, a 32% decrease, mainly as a result of lower export thermal coal prices for both South African and Colombian coal and above inflation cost pressure in South Africa, partly offset by the weaker rand and cost containment measures.