Glencore says it expects a coal production decline in 2020.

The company’s Australian production of coking and thermal coal has dipped this year, producing 3.7 million tonnes of coking coal during the first half of 2020 - a 14 per cent fall from the 4.3 million tonnes produced in the same period last year.

The reduction has been partly linked to delayed coal extraction at Glencore’s Hail Creek mine in Queensland, which Glencore says it should be able to make up later this year.

Thermal coal output is down by 13 per cent too, due to maintenance and increased haul distances at some sites.

So, Glencore has downgraded its coal production forecast from 132 million tonnes to 114 million tonnes for the rest of this year.

Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg says some of the company’s industrial operations have been temporarily suspended in line with national and regional guidance, but most others continue to operate relatively normally.