BHP Billiton Q3 Iron Ore Output Up 23%; Copper Output Down 5%

(RTTNews) - BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, BHP.AX, BBL, BLT.L), the world's biggest miner, said that iron ore production for the third quarter rose 23% from last year to 49.57 million tons.

However, copper production for the third quarter fell 5% year-over-year to 413,900 tons. However, the company left its full-year copper production guidance unchanged at 1.7 million tons, with the expectations of a strong June quarter.

Nickel production for the quarter slipped 19% to 34,100 tons.

The company said metallurgical coal production for the third quarter surged 28% year-over-year to 11.47 million tons, while energy coal production for the quarter increased 11% to 17.72 million tons.

The company raised its full year metallurgical coal production guidance by 2.5 million tons to 43.5 million tons.

Total petroleum production for the third quarter rose 10% from a year earlier to 60.9 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Alumina production for the quarter grew 3% to 1.25 million tons, while Aluminum production for the quarter fell 6% to 286,000 tons.