* BHP says iron ore, coal mine yields hit by bad weather,
industrial disputes
* Quarterly drop comes as competition in bulk commodities
heats up
* BHP says sees impact of coal dispute significant in
quarters to come
By James Regan
SYDNEY, April 18 (Reuters) – BHP Billiton
on Wednesday posted sharp drops in iron ore and coal production
– key revenue earners for the world’s biggest mining house – for
the first quarter of 2012 due to bad weather and labour unrest.
The declines come as competition heats up in global bulk
commodities markets as demand from China for imported industrial
raw materials finally shows signs of waning after years of
double-digit growth.
Mining behemoths such as BHP, Xstrata Vale
and Rio Tinto are counting on their
large-scale operations to provide economies of scale and an edge
over small competitors when demand softens. The more each miner
can dig up, the lower the costs and greater the ability to
weather a downturn.
BHP said March quarter iron ore output fell 8 percent, while
metallurgical coal production was down 14 percent against the
previous quarter.
Production from its Queensland collieries supplying
steel-making coal were constrained by a campaign of rolling work
stoppages and other industrial action by roughly a third of its
workforce, coupled with the impact of heavy rain on mining and
shipping.
Continued…
