By Nathan Richardson

January 16, 2018 - Mining giant Rio Tinto hit the upper end of its 2017 thermal production guidance and has maintained its forecast for this year, the company said Tuesday.

After slashing its 2017 guidance from 17 million-18 million mt to 13 million-14 million mt in the wake of the September sale of its Coal & Allied business to Yancoal, Rio finished the year with its share of production from its assets totaling 13.93 million mt, it said.

The 2017 thermal coal output was down 17% from 2016 and production in the October-December quarter felt the full effects of the sale, crashing by 77% year on year and 75% quarter on quarter to 966,000 mt.

The miner saw average prices realised for thermal coal of $78/mt on an FOB basis in both the first and second halves of 2017, it said.

In 2018, it expects to produce 3.8 million-4.5 million mt of thermal coal.

Rio's only remaining coal mines are the Hail Creek and Kestrel mines in the Australian state of Queensland.