BHP posts second straight year of record iron ore production, beats estimates
The world's largest listed miner said iron ore output from Western Australia on a 100% basis was 76.8 million tonnes in the three months to June 30.
Coal mining shares rose on Thursday amid uncertainty over the future of nuclear power as Japan races to avert a meltdown at a power plant crippled by last week’s earthquake and tsunami, Reuters reported:
In afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Consol Energy (CNX.N) was up 4.9 percent at $54.96 and Alpha Natural Resources (ANR.N) rose 4.3 percent to $55.17. Peabody Energy (BTU.N) was 3.6 percent higher at $70.05, Massey Energy (MEE.N) was up 3.9 percent at $63.18 and Arch Coal (ACI.N) was 2.2 percent higher at $34.91.
The Dow Jones index of coal company stocks .DJUSCL rose 3.8 percent.
“Long term and short term, coal generation wins by default,” said Stephen Doyle, who runs Doyle Trading Consultants, which specializes in coal.
“The backlash from the (Japan) catastrophe will be huge and at the very least will result in escalated cost estimates that might make nuclear generation as high as electricity from wind and solar.” Thermal coal is used to power electricity generating plants.
