Glencore fires up production after shutdown over Christmas
GLENCORE has re-started coal production in Australia after a flash blanket shutdown across its operations, but has been met with lower prices for the struggling commodity than when it launched the shock move.
Benchmark thermal coal was fetching $US63.30 a tonne when Glencore kicked off its three-week shutdown in mid-December.
When the shutdown ended on Monday, it was trading at $US61.20 a tonne.
On announcing the unprecedented shutdown, the Swiss trading giant said it was pulling back production to avoid pushing incremental tonnes into a depressed, oversupplied market.
Tony Hayward, Glencore's chairman, has provided some insight into the thinking behind the shutdown, saying last month that it was an attempt to create tightness in the market because that was the right thing to do.
