Mike Henry, CEO of Australian miner BHP Billiton, has stated that the company is looking for initiatives to grow its annual iron ore production to 300 million mt at Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) over the medium term. The company also plans to increase WAIO’s production to 330 million mt in the future with the current studies underway, which are expected to be concluded in 2025.
WAIO was designed with an initial annual capacity of 240 million mt while it is currently producing 280-290 million mt of iron ore. WAIO achieved record iron ore production of 212.6 million mt for the first nine months this year, as SteelOrbis previously reported.
Meanwhile, Henry said that the macroeconomic drivers of growth in the mining sector remain favorable. BHP expects China to be a stabilizing factor in global economic growth and commodities demand in the near term. The company anticipates that the second half of the current year will be better than the first half, especially for global construction and the steel value chain.
