In March Glencore announced it would close its Ravensworth underground coal mine in the Hunter Valley (Image courtesy of Glencore)
Mining and commodities trading giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) said Monday it is resuming operations at its Australian coal mines, which were temporarily shut over Christmas to battle a global oversupply of the commodity.
The Swiss-based company — Australia’s largest coal producer — said at the time the decision of halting all coal mines in the country was taken to avoid other more drastic measures, including closing those or other mines for much longer.
The shutdown saw Glencore’s coal production cut by around 5 million tonnes, or 2.5% of Australia’s forecast 2014 thermal coal exports, according to Reuters.
The company owns 20 coal mines at 13 mine complexes across NSW and Queensland, which produced more than 80 million tonnes of thermal and coking coal in 2013 and employed around 8,600 people.
In March the company announced it was closing its Ravensworth underground coal mine (pictured) in the Hunter Valley, due to falling prices and stock surplus in the market.
