UK-based mining giant Anglo American has announced that it has revised its coking coal and iron ore production guidance for 2022 and the next two years.
The company has decreased its coking coal production guidance to 15 million mt from 15-17 million mt for 2022, to 16-19 million mt from 22-24 million mt for 2023 and to 20-22 million mt from 24-26 million mt for 2024. Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad pointed out that the company is still targeting 28-30 million mt of coking coal production in the longer term, but not in the next three years.
On the other hand, Anglo American has also revised its iron ore production guidance to 59 million mt from 60-64 million mt for 2022, to 57-61 million mt from 64-68 million mt for 2023 and to 61-65 million mt from 67-71 million mt for 2024.
“We strongly believe that demand for high grade iron ore will remain very strong as steelmakers look to reduce their emissions. We have set up partnerships with several steelmakers to further improve the efficiency of blast furnaces by using better quality raw materials. Where possible, we will target our product at DRI steelmakers, since DRI steelmaking has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 90 percent, if based on hydrogen produced from renewable electricity,” said Mr. Wanblad regarding the iron ore production outlook.
For the full year 2022, Anglo American expects capital expenditure to remain a little under the existing guidance at about $5.7 billion and production costs for the current year have increased by 16 percent compared to 2021.