BHP Billiton Limited (ASX:BHP, NYSE:BHP, LON:BLT) has delivered record iron ore shipments from Western Australia, rising to an annualised rate of 173 million tonnes per annum.
The global miner’s September quarter production report shows iron ore production rose 24 per cent and petroleum production was 19 per cent higher compared to the year before.
Petroleum production was boosted by the miner’s recent acquisition of US shale gas businesses and growth from existing assets.
However, copper production declined 24 per cent over the year. BHP says the fall was due to strikes at its flagship Escondida copper mine in Chile and planned smelter and refinery outages at its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.
In the 2011 financial year BHP Billiton posted a record net profit of $22.3 billion.
