BHP Group reported record annual iron ore production but warned that copper output will decline in the coming year as ore grades weaken at its major Chilean operations, including Escondida, Bloomberg News reported.
Copper production for the 12 months to June 30 fell 3% year-on-year to nearly 2 million tons, while iron ore output rose 1% to a record 264.7Mt, the company said in an operational update on Thursday. BHP expects copper production to drop as low as 1.65Mt in the new fiscal year, which began July 1, as grades deteriorate across its South American mines.
Copper has become BHP’s biggest earnings driver and sits at the centre of its shift toward commodities tied to electrification and the energy transition.
CEO Brandon Craig, who took over on July 1, said the results reflected stronger realised prices, with copper up around 35% year-on-year.
He now oversees a substantial growth pipeline, including the Jansen potash project in Canada and expansion of the group’s South American copper business, said Bloomberg.
BHP is also working to lift iron ore output in Western Australia, where Port Hedland workers staged a brief strike Thursday. Despite tough negotiations with China Mineral Resources Group, BHP sold iron ore at prices 3% higher over the year. Quarterly output showed iron ore down 3% to 68.1Mt and copper down 5% to 491,900t, said Bloomberg.
