BHP Group reports Q4 copper output at 504.9kt, up 6% from last year

Reports Q4 iron ore output at 69.2Mt, up 6% from last year. Reports Q4 metallurgical coal output of 4.9Mt, down 42% from last year. CEO Mike Henry states: “We finished the year with a strong fourth quarter, achieving several production records and we are meeting current production and unit cost guidance for all commodities. WAIO continued its strong performance, delivering a second consecutive year of record production on the back of ongoing incremental improvements along its supply chain as we progress toward our medium-term goal of increasing production to greater than 305 Mtpa. We achieved a strong performance across our copper business globally, underpinned by the highest production in four years at Escondida and another year of record production from Spence in Chile. Successful integration at Copper South Australia has delivered additional production tonnes, and exceeded the annualised synergies planned at the time of the OZL acquisition. We successfully completed the sale of the Blackwater a d Daunia metallurgical coal operations on 2 April 2024. After a challenging year at BMA, we have plans in place to increase production to between 43 and 45 Mtpa (100%) in the next five years. We continued to execute against our strategy, progressing growth options in the commodities the world needs to meet the demands of the energy transition and population growth. This includes our Jansen potash mine in Canada, where construction of Stage 1 is now more than 50% complete and Stage 2 is underway. We will see first production in 2026 and will be a major global producer of potash by the end of the decade. On 11 July we announced the temporary suspension of our Western Australia Nickel operations from October 2024 as a result of an oversupply in the global nickel market and protracted low nickel prices.”