During the quarter, overburden removal was 32.1% lower than the previous quarter.

“Overburden removal and coal production during the quarter were affected by a planned mine site shutdown as a result of a power upgrade related to a required overhaul of coal crushing facilities,” the company said in a statement.

Reflective of the mine site shutdown, metallurgical coal production was 31.7% lower than the previous quarter. Steaming coal production was 9.7% down reflecting lower opening inventories relative to metallurgical coal and contracted coal delivery requirements to Stanwell Power Station.

For the 12 months to 31 December 2015, metallurgical coal production decreased by 9.5% to 8,472,000t and steaming coal production increased by 4.1% to 3,435,000t.

Turning to the Bengalla coal mine in New South Wales, Wesfarmers’ share of coal production for the quarter was 866,000t, 6.4% above the previous quarter due to operating in a more productive section of the mining sequence.

For the 12 months to 31 December 2015, Wesfarmers’ share of coal production decreased by 2.9% to 3,326,000t.