All Posts Tagged With: "bhp"

Distract from what? Huge inflation. Yes. Yes. We know. There is no huge inflation now. In fact, industrial production in the United States fell for the fourth month in a row. It hasn’t been this low since 2002. But then, why would output grow when demand is falling and credit remains tight?

Could this have worked out any better for China? We’re talking about the position Rio Tinto put itself in by taking on US$38 billion in debt to acquire Alcan—and stave off the unwanted advance of an amorous BHP. Now, in a world where refinancing that debt is near impossible for one of the world’s largest miners, it must sue for peace with a strategic partner…

BHP announced yesterday it was cutting six thousand jobs globally. It will shut down the nickel operation at the Ravensthorpe mine indefinitely and reducing production at the Mt. Keith Nickel mine. What’s more, it will reduce coking coal production by 15% in Queensland and lay off 1,000 workers. BHP is the world’s largest producer of coking coal, so this tell you how much the global demand for steel has fallen off…

BHP wrote in it ASX release that, “China has not been immune to the global slowdown. Macroeconomic indicators show that Chinese growth has softened during the quarter, albeit from very high levels. We expect volatility and uncertainty to continue in the short term.” Translation, “Whoa. Would you look at that? Well, still, pretty amazing story in China. We’ll just have to buckle up until this whole global financial collapse is behind us.”

Melbourne-based resource giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) is scheduled to report its second half results today. Analysts expect the company to report a 30% gain in second half profit to $9.4 billion. That profit growth was driven mainly by higher prices in the petroleum division and production increases in iron ore. Yet the stock is down 4%, year to date. And commodities are coming off a horrible month.