Jan 17 (Reuters) - Mining group South32 Ltd 's S32.AX second-quarter metallurgical coal output dropped 43 percent due to the suspension of operations at its Appin mine in Australia over safety concerns, the company said on Wednesday.
Production of coal used in steelmaking fell to 788,000 tonnes in the December quarter from 1.39 million tonnes a year earlier, but was still up 60 percent on the previous quarter, following a partial restart of the Appin mine in August, South32 said.