AAL Anglo American Plc

By Jaime Llinares Taboada

Anglo American PLC said Thursday that its production recovered to 95% of 2019 rates in the second half of 2020, and cut its diamond-output forecast for 2021.

The FTSE 100 mining company reported full-year output drops across most of the commodities it produces, as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted operations and hurt demand.

Diamond production decreased 18% to 25.1 million carats. Copper rose 1% to 647,000 metric tons as the Los Broncos mine in Chile secured access to industrial water. Platinum group metals output fell 14% to 3.8 million ounces.

Iron ore declined 7% to 61.1 million tons despite production increases in Brazil. Metallurgical coal plunged 26% to 16.8 million tons, and thermal coal declined 22% to 20.6 million tons.

As for 2021, Anglo American cut its diamond-production forecast to 32 million-34 million carats, from the previous 33 million-35 million carats projection.

Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2021 02:34 ET (07:34 GMT)

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