Anglo American upgrades Brazil iron ore guidance

(Sharecast News) - Anglo American on Tuesday upgraded 2019 production guidance for its Brazilian Minas-Rio iron ore operation by 10% to roughly 23m tonnes.
The miner said that the high quality and "significantly improved operational performance" of its bulks businesses had continued to deliver "very attractive" margins and returns. The upgrade was from a previous estimate this month of 20m - 22m tonnes.

Seamus French, chief executive of bulk commodities at Anglo American, said: "We believe our iron ore, met coal and nickel businesses are well set to meet future demand trends, particularly in relation to the high quality of their products."

"Looking forward, we have a disciplined approach to growth within our portfolio, with numerous debottlenecking and life extension opportunities in the medium term across our iron ore and met coal assets," said French.

For fiscal 2021, Minas-Rio iron ore production was now projected to be 24m - 26m tonnes, up from 22m - 24m tonnes.

For Kumba iron ore the company maintained its guidance at 42m - 43m tonnes. For both fiscal 2020 and 2021, the company updated its production outlook to 43m - 44m tonnes from a previous range of 43m - 45m tonnes.

As of 0915 GMT, Anglo American shares were up 0.67% at 2,023p.