At the AJM Global Iron Ore and Steel Forecast conference held in Perth on March 11, Australian miner BHP Billiton outlined how its focus on productivity and capital efficient debottlenecking in its iron ore business is delivering value.
"Our market outlook is for continued strong steel demand growth over the next 10 years. Our view that Chinese crude steel production is expected to peak at 1.1 billion mt, around 2025, is unchanged. We remain confident that global demand for iron ore will continue to grow, though at a more moderate rate, driven by urbanization and industrialization," said BHP Billiton Iron Ore president Jimmy Wilson.
BHP Billiton is still expecting the iron ore production from its Western Australian iron ore operations to reach 212 million mt in 2014. The company also said that the new Jimblebar mine will ramp up to 35 million mt per year and expand the company's total mine capacity to 220 million mt. The Jimblebar mine is also expandable to 55 million mt per year.
The Australian miner stated that there are no major African projects expected to be developed by 2018, while media reports suggest that BHP Billiton is seeking to sell its West African iron ore assets.