Mongolian coking coal miner SouthGobi Resources produced a total 1.34 million mt of unwashed thermal and coking coal in 2012, down 70.7% year on year compared with 4.57 million mt in 2011.
Of the total, semi-soft coking coal output in 2012 came in at 350,000 mt, compared with 2.02 million mt in 2011, the miner said in its fourth quarter and 2012 annual report released late Monday.
Thermal coal production for 2012 came in at 990,000 mt, down 61% from 2.55 million mt in 2011, the miner said.
The lower output in 2012 was due to full suspension of operations at its Ovoot Tolgoi mine since the second half in 2012. The miner's Chinese customers were unwilling to renew their quarterly buying for the second-half of 2012 amid a weak steel market forecast at the time which led to the mills de-stocking.
As a result, the company did not produce any coal in H2 2012.
It had produced 1.07 million mt of coal in the first quarter of 2012 and 270,000 mt in the second quarter. Unwashed semi-soft coking coal production was 280,000 mt in Q1 and 70,000 mt in Q2. Thermal coal output totalled 790,000 mt in Q1 and 200,000 mt in Q2.
The company resumed mining operations at the Ovoot Tolgoi mine on March 22, and plans to produce 3.2 million mt of semi-soft coking coal over the remainder of this year, Platts reported last week.
For 2012, SouthGobi posted a net loss of $103 million, compared with a $57.7 million net profit in 2011. The company's revenue last year came in at $53.1 million, down 70.3% from the $179 million in 2011.
