Output and exports from Colombia's Cerrejon coal mine fell in 2017
BOGOTA – Production and exports at Cerrejon, Colombia's largest thermal coal mine, fell in 2017 for the third straight year as heavy rainfall affected operations, the mine's owners said on Wednesday.
Output reached 31.9-million tonnes in 2017, 0.3% below the previous year. Exports totalled 31.7-million tonnes, a drop of 2.4% compared with 2016, Cerrejon said.
The mining company is currently negotiating wages and benefits with the main workers' union which has threatened to strike if terms are not agreed by January 19.
A strike at the Cerrejon mine could further reduce production and overseas sales from the world's fifth-largest exporting nation of the mineral.
Cerrejon, one of the world's largest open-pit coal mines, is located in northern La Guajira province. It has a railway line spanning more than 150-km and a seaport to handle shipments.
The trade union has demanded a 12% wage increase in the first year of a new contract, while the company has offered 5.2% as well as a bonus to each employee and health and education benefits.
Cerrejon's offer is above the 4.09% inflation for last year, but the union has said it falls short of expectations given strong coal prices in recent months.
Cerrejon, which belongs in equal parts to BHP Billiton , Anglo American and Glencore, has said its offer is fair and based on projections for a difficult year in international coal markets.
Colombia produced 65.1-million tonnes of coal in the first nine months of 2017, 4.4% lower than for the same period a year earlier. It set a production target above 90-million tonnes for 2017.
Comments
The
functionality
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation