Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate: UPDATE 1-Xstrata Q1 copper production down

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UPDATE 1-Xstrata Q1 copper production down May 1st 2012, 06:37 Tue May 1, 2012 2:37am EDT LONDON May 1 (Reuters) - Miner Xstrata, which is moving into the final stages of a record tie-up with commodities trader Glencore, posted a drop in first-quarter copper production as it prepares for the ramp up of key projects in the second half of the year. Xstrata, which said all its major projects were making good progress and remained on schedule, said quarterly copper output dropped more than 18 percent year-on-year, after it reached the end of life of mines including the Ernest Henry open pit in Australia, while newer projects were still ramping up. It produced 171,121 tonnes of copper in the quarter. Mined coal, a key earner for Xstrata along with copper, saw consolidated production increase by 9 percent year-on-year to 21.1 million tonnes in the first quarter of last year, when the sector was battered by bad weather. Production was slightly down, however, on the fourth quarter of last year. While iron ore has become the focus of operations at several of the largest diversified miners, copper and coal account for more than 70 percent of Xstrata's profits and both are key planks of its growth strategy. Xstrata agreed in February to a long-awaited $37 billion all-share takeover by Glencore, its largest investor. The trader is offering 2.8 Glencore shares for every Xstrata share held.

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