BHP Q3 iron ore output dips 1%, copper down 14%

SYDNEY, April 22 (Reuters) - Global miner BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc (BHP.AX) (BLT.L) reported on Wednesday a 1 percent drop in iron ore production and a 14 percent fall in copper output for the March quarter, compared with a year earlier.

BHP Billiton has been cutting back production and stalling new projects in the face of a fierce downturn in global demand.

Aluminium output fell 4 percent but nickel production rose 10 percent, the world's biggest mining house said in its fiscal third-quarter production report.