BHP Group has appointed Brandon Craig as its next CEO, succeeding Mike Henry, who has led the world’s largest miner for more than six years, reported Bloomberg News.
Craig, 53, is a South African-trained engineer who has spent more than 25 years at BHP. He ran the company’s iron ore division during the pandemic before taking charge of its Americas operations in 2024, a region central to BHP’s ambitions in copper and potash. He will assume the role on 1 July.
The appointment was read by analysts as a signal of continuity. “He knows the business very well and he’s got an empire to lead,” Glyn Lawcock, head of metals and mining research at Barrenjoey Markets told the newswire.
Craig inherits a company in transition. Copper accounted for more than half of BHP’s earnings for the first time in the six months to December, reflecting the metal’s growing importance to the energy transition and the technology sector.
Iron ore, long the company’s main profit driver, faces headwinds from a slowing Chinese economy, while rising energy costs linked to the Middle East conflict are squeezing margins across the industry, said Bloomberg.
On acquisitions, Craig was measured, saying any deal would need to be “incredibly compelling” to compete with the organic growth options already available to the group. He would be “bringing to life” the development options bequeathed to him, according to a report by Reuters.
“He’s run the iron ore business, and the Americas is probably the most important business for BHP in the years ahead,” Andy Forster of Sydney-based Argo Investments told Reuters in its coverage of BHP’s announcement. “I reckon he’s super impressive.”
BHP has been locked in a pricing battle with its biggest customer, China’s Mineral Resources Group, which banned its steel mills from buying several of its products as the two hammer out annual supply terms, said Reuters.
“I do think it’s really, really important that we continue to strengthen the relationships with our customers, particularly in China,” he said, adding that senior BHP leadership would be visiting the top commodity consuming nation in the next few weeks.
But he added that the mining sector today has far more support from governments than at any other previous time, especially amid tensions with China. “The importance of mining to the economic ambition of security of nations around the world has never been more important or so well understood,” he said.
BHP’s Australian shares rose as much as 1.2% following the announcement.
