Decline in Australian coal production

Thermal coal production at Australia's South32 declined between July and September following repairs at South African assets and the suspension of operations in Australia.

In general, South32 produced 7.01 million tons of thermal coal in September 2017, which is 14% more than in April and 9% compared to April-June. The miner's South African thermal coal production was down 14% year-on-year and 10% quarter-on-quarter to 6.69 million tonnes. The decline occurred as South32 completed scheduled maintenance.

In addition, Australia's thermal coal production, which comes through the Illawarra Metallurgical Coal business, fell 27% year-on-year and rose 5% year-on-year to 325,000 tonnes in September. Production in Australia was hit by the suspension of Appin production at the end of June due to high gas levels in the mine.