Colombia produced 11 million tonnes of coal in the third quarter this year, slumping 47.2% compared with the year-ago level, official data showed.
The decline was mainly ascribed to workers' strike in Colombian miner Cerrejon and nationwide quarantine measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, according to an announcement co-issued by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the National Agency for Mining.
Workers had gone on strike on August 31, due to dissatisfaction with the worker benefits established by the large miner.
Colombia's coal production in the third quarter, however, was still 9.7 million tonnes higher compared with the second quarter, when lots of miners cut capacity utilization or even halted production due to the pandemic.
Colombia's major miners include Drummond, Prodeco, an arm of Glencore, and Cerrejon, equally owned by BHP, Anglo American and Glencore.
Colombia's coal output stood at 82.2 million tonnes in 2019.
Its coal production would fall by 28.4% over the next decade to 53 million tonnes in 2030, but coal prices are expected to rise to $46/t from the current low level of $29/t, Colombian government said recently.
(Writing by Emma Yang Editing by Tammy Yang)
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