The well known third largest iron ore producer BHP Billiton has recently released its operational review for Australian FY16. According to the report, the miner produced 227 MnT iron ore during Australian FY16.
BHP Billiton misses its target guidance by 10 MnT for FY16. In the month of Jan’16, the miner had expected to produce around 237 MnT iron ore in FY16 due to the suspension of production at Samarco.
Now, for Australian FY17, the miner expects to produce between 228 and 237 MnT iron ore excluding production at Samarco.
On the other hand, the Western Australian Iron Ore (WAIO) output is recorded at 257 MnT in FY16. The output rose by 2% Y-o-Y as its Jimblebar mining hub operated at full capacity. The miner increased its forecast between 265 and 275 MnT for FY17. Along with a focus on productivity and the ramp-up of additional capacity at the Jimblebar mining hub, the company aims to increase its system capacity to 290 MnT pa in the FY19.
Samarco had produced 11 MnT iron ore in FY16 prior to the dam collapse in early Nov’15.
Global iron ore prices remained positive starting this year on strong Chinese demand. But, BHP Billiton’s average realized price was USD 61/MT in FY15 and drop down to USD 43/MT FY16.
The average realized prices of iron ore in the first half of Aus. FY16 (Jul-Dec’15) was USD 43/MT, whereas the average realized prices of iron ore in the second half of Aus FY16 (Jan-Jun’16) was USD 44/MT.
Note: Australian financial year FY16 starts from 01 July’15 and ends on 30 June’16
Notification for BHP Billiton’s operational review for FY16.
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