BHP has reported a 10% increase in iron ore production for the first quarter, figures released Wednesday show.
The Australian mining giant said total iron ore production for the three months to the end of September 2018 reached 61mt.
However, BHP said guidance for iron ore output for the 2019 financial year remains unchanged at between 241 and 250mt.
“At Western Australia Iron ore (WAIO) increased volumes were supported by record production at Jimblebar and improved reliability across our rail network and port operations,” BHP said.
“As expected, production was lower than the June 2018 quarter as we optimized maintenance schedules across the supply chain and implemented a program of work to further improve port reliability and performance.”
BHP chief executive, Andrew Mackenzie, said: “We are on track to meet guidance for the 2019 financial year across our commodities, except copper where we have reduced production guidance slightly following outages at Olympic Dam in Australia and Spence in Chile.”
Earlier this week iron ore rivals Rio Tinto and Vale reported contrasting performances in their quarterly updates.
On Tuesday Rio Tinto reported a 5% decline in iron ore exports in the third quarter as a fatality at one of its mines affected operations.
Shipments from its Australian mines fell to 81.9mt compared with 85.8mt in the same period a year ago, snapping four consecutive quarters of increases.
In contrast, Vale hit a new record in the third quarter, producing nearly 105mt of iron ore thanks to the ramping up of its S11D project.
