The mining giant exported 302.6mt last year, the first time the figure has exceeded 300mt, the Aussie miner said.

It was helped by a strong fourth quarter which saw it ship 82.2mt, 13% up on a year ago and 5% ahead of the third quarter.

“We have had a successful year of production, capped off with a robust fourth quarter. Output is in line with our targets across all of our major products,” said chief executive Sam Walsh.

“In