LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Anglo American onThursday said the ramp-up of iron ore at Minas Rio in Brazil andhigher volumes of coking coal had offset reduced diamondproduction, raising second-quarter output by 2% and keeping thecompany on track to meet its 2019 targets.
Prices of iron ore, used with coking coal to make steel,have outperformed other base metals, reaching five-year highs,after a Vale dam disaster in Brazil led to productionshut-ins.
CEO Mark Cutifani said Anglo American's production had beenboosted following the ramp-up of Minas Rio and a strongperformance from coking coal after plant upgrade work in thefirst quarter.
"We remain broadly on track overall to deliver this fullyear's production targets," he said in a statement.
De Beers' diamond production fell by 14% year on year aswork goes on at Venetia in South Africa to move to undergroundmining from open pit and against a backdrop of weaker demand.
Citing "prevailing market conditions," Cutifani said DeBeers will continue to produce in response to demand for theyear.
Copper production increased by 1% and platinum rose 3% yearon year.
Minas Rio's iron ore production climbed to 5.9 milliontonnes. Anglo American restarted operations there in Decemberafter receiving regulatory approval to step up productionfollowing a prolonged outage because of a leak.
Metallurgical, or coking, coal production increased by 11%following site improvements, while thermal coal, used for power,fell by 8% because of a lack of water.(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Barbara Lewisin London; editing by Jason Neely)