The company had already started the process in February when it decided to cut 2015 Australian coal exports by 15 million tonnes, he said.

“Glencore will not push incremental volumes into markets that don’t need them,” he said.

“Further, we won’t and can’t operate mines that don’t make a financial contribution.

“This approach secures the long-term viability of our portfolio and although tough, is the right way to run our business.”

The Hunter Valley region represents the single biggest part of Glencore’s global coal portfolio employing over 3,800 people.

It is the biggest coal producer in the Hunter and last year managed the production of nearly 56Mt, the vast majority of which were exported from Newcastle.

Glencore remains supportive of meaningful reform in the areas of project approvals, taxation, workplace relations and productivity, because good policy in these areas ensures the robustness of the sector through the cycle, Freyberg said.

“Bringing on additional tonnes with the aid of taxpayer money would materially increase the risk to existing coal operations. We are strong believers that if a project can’t get away on its own economic merits, it shouldn’t be developed.

“Similarly, privatising critical rail and port infrastructure is fine in principle. But not if the terms of sale don’t adequately protect the sector from unreasonable year-on-year tariff increases without any obligation on the part of the new owner-operator to further invest in capacity to meet industry needs.”