Glencore, one of the world’s largest coal suppliers, saw its coal production slump 24% on the year to 106.2 million tonnes in 2020, according to its annual production report on February 3.
The decline is mainly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, falling coal prices and strikes in Predeco mine.
Glencore produced 86.1 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2020, falling 13.6 million tonnes from a year ago, with output from Australia at 62.1 million tonnes.
Of the thermal coal production from Australian operations, 55.70 million tonnes were for export, down by 13% year on year, while 6.4 million tonnes for domestic consumption, down 26%.
For thermal coal output of South African mines, 13 million tonnes (14% YoY) and 13.9 million tonnes (-34% YoY) were for export and domestic markets, respectively.
In 2020, Glencore achieved 7.6 million tonnes of coking coal output from Australian operations, falling 17% year on year, while semi-soft coking coal output was down 28% to 4.6 million tonnes.
The Predeco mine in Colombia churned out 3.8 million tonnes of in 2020, tumbling 76% from 15.6 million tonnes in 2019. The mine was in maintenance from March 2020.
Cerrejon, equally owned by BHP, Anglo American and Glencore, produced 4.1 million tonnes of coal in 2020, slumping 52% year on year, as the mine remained suspended from March until early May. And later, the strike also largely hit the total production.
In 2021, the Glencore production is expected to be 109-117 million tonnes, the report said.
Source: Rebecca Liu & Harry Huo, SXcoal
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