Despite a cumulative drop of nearly 20% in iron ore prices since the beginning of the year, giant miners have not slowed down their mining efforts.
On Wednesday local time, BHP Billiton, the world's largest listed mining company, released its quarterly production report. The report shows that thanks to improved weather conditions and the breakthrough of the company's iron ore project in Western Australia, BHP's iron and copper ore production exceeded analysts' expectations, especially as iron ore set a record for the second consecutive year.
According to the financial report, as of June 30, 2024, BHP Billiton produced 259 million tons of iron ore, setting a record for annual production. BHP expects its iron ore production to be between 254 million and 264 million tons in the fiscal year 2025.
Citigroup stated that BHP's production performance in the fourth quarter of the 2024 fiscal year (i.e. from April to June this year) was strong, exceeding its previous production expectations for the company.
This is mainly due to BHP's breakthrough in an important iron ore project located in Western Australia. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, BHP's iron ore production in Western Australia was 76.8 million tons, exceeding Wall Street's expectation of 75.4 million tons. And the company's iron ore production in Western Australia during the same period last year was 72.7 million tons.
BHP CEO Mike Henry said in a statement:
BHP Western Australia Iron Ore Company (WAIO) continues to maintain strong performance, achieving record breaking production for the second consecutive year against the backdrop of its continuously improving supply chain. We are moving towards our mid-term goal of increasing production to over 305 million tons per year.
In terms of copper production, BHP's copper concentrate grade and output in the Escondida mining area in Chile have both increased. Thanks to this, the company's copper production in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024 increased by 6% year-on-year, reaching 50.49 tons. This exceeds the Wall Street analysts' forecast of 469200 tons.
At the end of May this year, BHP abandoned its $49 billion acquisition offer for its competitor Anglo American. This acquisition was previously seen as a global mining "century deal" by the outside world and was also one of the largest acquisitions of the year. The cancellation of this acquisition also means that BHP has given up its efforts to build a mining giant.
In addition, BHP Billiton announced last week that it will suspend its nickel business in Western Australia from October due to a sharp drop in nickel prices and oversupply in the global market.
BHP will announce its full year results on August 27th.
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