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Empresas y finanzas

BHP Billiton quarterly iron ore output up 15 percent


    MELBOURNE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton , the world's biggest miner, posted a 15 percent rise in iron ore output in the June quarter from a year ago and said it expects its iron ore output to rise 5 percent in the 2013 financial year.

    BHP warned that due to a long-running labor dispute which is nearing a resolution its metallurgical coal business in Queensland state had suffered "significant margin compression."

    Iron ore production rose to 40.9 million tonnes in the June quarter from 35.5 million tonnes a year ago for the world no.3 iron ore miner behind Brazil's Vale and Rio Tinto . UBS had expected output of 38.5 million tonnes.

    Copper production rose to 15 percent to 312,500 tonnes in the final quarter of BHP's financial year from 232,000 a year earlier and compared with a forecast of 311,200 tonnes from UBS.

    Petroleum output, being closely watched for clues on a possible multibillion dollar write-down on BHP's U.S. shale gas assets, jumped 30 percent to 56.4 million barrels of oil equivalent from 43.3 million boe.

    (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Ed Davies)