Australian miner
BHP Billiton announced on Friday, December 12 that the company has shipped its one billionth metric ton of
iron ore to
China.
"
China is of immense importance to
BHP Billiton and to
Australia. It took nearly 30 years for
BHP Billiton to ship 100 million mt of
iron ore to
China and then only 12 more years to reach the one billion mt milestone," said
BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie.
With
China accounting for nearly 50 percent of the world's total steel production,
BHP Iron Ore president Jimmy Wilson recognized
China's contribution to the development of the Pilbara
iron ore operations in Western
Australia. "Chinese demand growth has supported a trebling of
BHP Billiton's
iron ore production over the last two decades," he said.
"Over the past decade, we have invested US$25 billion in our Western Australian mines and rail and port infrastructure to deliver the high-quality
iron ore needed by our steelmaking customers in
China," Mr. Wilson added.