The miner also suspended its 2020 financial forecasts citing the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, which was impacting the construction of its Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) project in Chile.
The Canadian miner said it expected production volumes to improve in the last quarter of the year but did not disclose the volumes by which it would be increasing production. Teck Resources indicated COVID-19 would to continue to impact global economic activity and steelmaking coal demand and supply this year.
Output at its steelmaking coal operations dropped by 19.7pc to 4.9mn mt in the first quarter from 6.1mn mt in Q1 2019.
During the quarter, the company’s copper production rose to 71,000mt from 70,000mt in Q1 2019, while its refined zinc concentrate output increased to 154,000mt from135,000mt during the same comparable period.
Despite a fall in output, the company’s steelmaking coal sales of 5.7mn mt beat the company’s guidance of 4.9-5.2mn mt for the quarter. The company sold 73,000mt of copper during the quarter, slightly down from 74,000mt sold in Q1 2019. Its zinc concentrate sales rose to159,000mt in the first quarter of 2020 from 155,000mt in Q1 2019.
In April, the company said it had completed major expansion of its Elkview Operations plant in Quebec, Canada increasing its annual steelmaking coal capacity ot 9mn mt, which would help in optimizing costs from its Cardinal River Operations.
The firm noted it had received notifications from its customers about delayed purchases in response to reduced demand for their steel products because of suspended or reduced operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the first quarter, the company reported an adjusted profit of C$94mn ($66.4mn), from C$587mn in Q1 2019, it said.