BHP Billiton Still Views Coal as “Attractive”

Mining Weekly reported that on Tuesday, Graham Kerr, CFO of BHP Billiton Ltd. (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BLT), said during a media conference call that his company continues to see coal as an “attractive commodity.”

As quoted in the market news:

‘There is no doubt our energy coal business in South Africa has had some challenges, but the team is working on that and performing well,’ Kerr stated, adding that when the company’s businesses were looked at it was important to focus on safety, production volumes and cost.

He added that while the metallurgical coal segment of BHP Billiton’s coal portfolio had shown stronger performance than that of energy coal, with production having increased by 22% during the six months ended December, to 22-million tonnes, and energy coal production in line with that of the prior corresponding period, the metallurgical coal industry had not been without challenges.

‘Further, [with regard to the future of the energy coal portfolio] we have some good assets in terms of Cerrejón, in Colombia, and New South Wales Energy Coal, in Australia, so there are still opportunities,’ Kerr noted.

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