[Ferro-Alloys.com] Anglo American PLC plans to cut coking coal output in the coming months as it reviews existing operations and projects in the face of weak prices, high costs and soft Chinese demand, its Chief Executive said Wednesday.

 

"We are going through a planning process where we will adjust to the market conditions and, in the short term, we will cut back," Seamus French said in an interview. "It's times like these that really are the right [opportunity] to reevaluate things," he added, saying the market had become over supplied after strong prices at the start of 2011 encouraged miners to ramp up production.

 

The spot price of coking coal, Australia's second-largest export, has fallen by half over the past 12 months as Chinese steel demand eased.

 

Anglo American is the world's third largest producer of coking coal, or metallurgical coal, which is primarily used for steel-making.

 

Anglo American reported worse-than-expected earnings in July as it grappled with falling commodity prices at a time when operating costs remain very high. The globally-diversified miner said at the time it would cut capital spending this year by around USD1.6 billion, to USD5 billion, on the uncertain global economic outlook.