Anglo American sticks to guidance as output falls a fifth
Mining giant Anglo American announced that total production in the second quarter had fallen 18 per cent as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the drop, the firm said that it would maintain its full year guidance for all of its commodities except for coal.
In a statement, the FTSE 100 firm said that it had now ramped up production capacity to 90 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels after output slumped 40 per cent in April.
Shares in Anglo American fell 2.2 per cent as markets opened.
In the second quarter, output of platinum, palladium, iron ore, coal and manganese all fell due to the restrictions on mining activity caused by the pandemic.
However, output of nickel and copper rose, helped by 38 per cent increase in production at the firm’s copper mine in Collahuasi in Chile.
At diamond mining subsidiary De Beers, output slumped 54 per cent in the three month period to 3.5m carats.
Operations in Botswana were especially badly impacted by a six-week national lockdown, with production crashing 68 per cent.
Despite the drop, the firm maintained its full year guidance of 25m to 27m carats.
At its previous production report in April, Anglo American cut many of its production targets due to the pandemic.
Chief executive Mark Cutifani said: “Anglo American has shown resilience in addressing the challenges posed by Covid-19, acting quickly to help safeguard the lives and livelihoods of our workforce and host communities.
“Our comprehensive response supported the continuity of the majority of our operations during varying degrees of lockdown in different jurisdictions, albeit at reduced capacity in many cases”.