Teck released its third quarter financial statements last week, and is reporting a $2.1 billion loss, mostly due to the writedown of its coal assets.
The Canadian Press published a story on Oct. 22, detailing the $2.1 billion loss, noting that Teck has shutdown some of it’s operations for three weeks during the third quarter. This was to reduce inventory and production costs.
Nic Milligan, Manager of Community and Aboriginal Affairs at Teck said that Teck does not have plans to continue any shutdowns.
“Going forward for steelmaking coal, we will be producing at close to budgeted levels in Q4, to align our production to sales volumes. Our operating plan for Q3 was successful in reducing inventories throughout the supply chain, and we expect to earn positive cash margins at current prices and costs,” he said in an email to The Free Press. “As such, we do not currently have plans for any further downtime at our operations.”
The price of coal has suffered in the past year, affecting Teck’s operating budget.
“An impairment charge reflects a reduction in the carrying value of an asset given changes in market conditions. It is important to note that these are non-cash charges and overall Teck remains in a strong financial position,” said Milligan. “Our focus as a company going forward is on continuing to control costs, being disciplined in our capital allocation, and ensuring our operations stay competitive throughout these challenging conditions.”
In other news, Teck is currently facing multiple charges under the Environmental Protection Act and the Fisheries Act. They are due to appear at the Fernie Court House on at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 29. Updates will be available on The Free Press website.