BHP Billiton PLC
Latest BHP Billiton PLC News and Updates

Roy Hill Has the Potential to Push Iron Ore Prices Further Down
Australia’s billionaire Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project expects to start shipping iron ore to world markets starting in October 2015.

Why the Outlook on Iron Ore Is Still Negative
Major iron ore producers are further reducing costs to weather the current market downturn.

What Are Analysts Recommending for Cliffs Natural Resources?
Of the analysts covering Cliffs, one analyst has a “buy” recommendation, eight have “hold” recommendations, and six have “sell” recommendations.

Can BHP Maintain Its Dividends in 2016?
BHP Billiton is facing pressure in all the commodity businesses it’s involved in. At spot prices, free cash flow doesn’t cover the company’s dividends.

Why China’s Iron Ore Imports Slid in August
China’s iron ore imports contracted 14% month-over-month and 1% year-over-year (or YoY) in the month of August to 74.12 million tons.

Brent crude oil moves nitrogenous fertilizer prices
Brent crude oil price is a leading indicator for nitrogenous fertilizer revenues. When the price of Brent oil rises, it’s generally followed by a rise in ammonia prices.

Are Analysts Turning Optimistic on Vale SA?
Among the analysts that track Vale SA (VALE), 16.0% have given the company a “buy” recommendation, and 16.0% have given it a “sell” recommendation.

Why China’s Auto Sales May Lose Momentum in 2017
Because 98% of mined iron ore goes into steelmaking, the demand for iron ore is related to China’s auto sector performance.

Key Highlights of Cliffs Natural Resources’ 4Q15 Results
Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) reported revenues of $476 million for 4Q15, a decline of 54% YoY. The revenues for 2015 also dropped 40% YoY to $2 billion.

Factors Impacting Iron Ore’s Performance in 2016
China’s (MCHI) economic slowdown is the biggest challenge for global metal and mining companies, which is why iron ore investors should keep a close eye on the Chinese economy.

Why Are BHP’s Copper Volumes Falling?
Lowering costs is vital in price environments wherein copper prices are hitting multiyear lows, and copper volumes are key for copper segment revenues.

BHP’s US Onshore Takes Another Hit—Is There More to Come?
BHP announced an impairment charge of $4.9 billion post-tax on its US Onshore business. After this, the carrying value of the business will be ~$16 billion.

Analyzing BHP’s Expectations from Petroleum in Fiscal 2016
BHP’s petroleum production fell by 5% YoY (year-over-year) to 124.7 MMboe (million barrels of oil equivalent) in fiscal 1H16.

Assessing BHP’s Coal Volumes Target in 1H16
BHP Billiton’s coal business is the world’s largest supplier of seaborne metallurgical coal. Metallurgical coal is a key input in steel production.

Could BHP Fall below Its Fiscal 2016 Iron Ore Guidance?
Big iron ore companies maintain a strategy of increasing volumes in order to reduce the pressure on revenues, cash flows, and ultimately the bottom line.

BHP’s December Production Results Were Mixed
BHP Billiton (BHP) (BBL) reported mixed production results for the second quarter of its fiscal 2016 on January 20, 2016. Its fiscal year ends on June 30.

Will the Iron Ore Carnage Continue in 2016?
The benchmark seaborne iron ore prices touched a low of $37 on December 11, 2015. This is below the breakeven for many small iron ore producers.

Pound Fell to a 7-Year Low despite Strong Inflation Data
The pound-US dollar currency pair has been on a downtrend since the beginning of the year. It fell by 0.46% on January 16, 2016.

British Pound Fell despite the Rise in Construction Activity
The British pound fell on January 5, 2016. It came close to an eight-month low against the US dollar even though the construction activity sector rebounded in December.

Is RIO Well Positioned for the Economic Transition in China?
Rio Tinto’s (RIO) CEO Sam Walsh seems optimistic about China’s growth. He says China’s urbanization, government efforts, and infrastructure investment should continue to push it in the right direction.

BHP’s Free Cash Flow Could Fall Short of Covering Its Dividends
BHP has a capital expenditure (or capex) guidance of $8.3 billion for fiscal 2016 and $7 billion for fiscal 2017.

Will BHP’s Petroleum Division Need to Take on More Impairments?
For BHP Billiton, its petroleum division remains one of the most challenging businesses to operate in the current commodity price environment.

Can BHP Billiton Shift to a Cash Generation Phase in Copper Soon?
Copper is one of the four key pillars for BHP Billiton. It contributes to 23% of group production and 24% of underlying earnings before interest and tax.

What Is Anglo American’s Strategy on Operational Discipline?
Anglo American embarked on operational discipline improvements starting in 2013. It will focus on achieving $2.1 billion in improvements in 2016 and 2017.

What Led Anglo American to Lower Production Guidance?
Anglo American has reduced its production guidance for 2016 from 24–26 million tons to 18–21 million tons.

Anglo American Shifts Its Focus to “Priority 1” Assets
Anglo American has announced a transformation in its assets. Its focus will now be on “Priority 1” assets, which can deliver cash flow through the cycle.

Vale Lowers Guidance in the Wake of the Samarco Accident
At Vale Day on December 1, 2015, Vale lowered its iron ore production guidance due to a weak demand outlook and the fallout from the November 5 Samarco accident in Brazil in which two dams collapsed.

Could the Recent Supply Disruptions Help Iron Ore Prices?
The output from Samarco contributes ~2% of the global seaborne iron ore market. The impact of the production loss from this operation should not be enough to move the needle up on iron ore prices.

Iron Ore Companies’ Production Continues Unabated Growth
The weak demand from China is hurting iron ore prices. The supply side, on the other hand, remains quite strong.

Key Highlights of Cliffs Natural Resources’ 3Q15 Results
Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) reported revenues of $593 million for 3Q15, a decline of 39% YoY. A decline in revenues impacted the company’s EBITDA negatively.

Rio Tinto Delivers a Strong Set of Production Numbers for 3Q15
Rio Tinto (RIO) reported a solid set of production numbers for the third quarter of 2015 on October 15.

How Are Iron Ore Miners Placed on the Cost Curve?
As there is still more low-cost supply ready to come online, the biggest such project being Vale’s low-cost S11D, there is a risk of some big iron ore miner becoming a marginal producer going forward.

Production Growth from Major Iron Ore Miners Continues Unabated
When Vale’s S11D project comes online, it could be a further game changer in the iron ore market. Its cash costs per ton are pegged at close to $11 per ton.

What is Driving the Iron Ore Miners’ Stock Price Performance?
Iron ore prices fell 49% in 2014, which was reflected in the share price performance of major miners. In this series, we’ll discuss the position of various iron ore players on the cost curve relative to iron ore prices.

Alcoa Reported a Fall in Income Quarter-over-Quarter
Alcoa (AA) has a market cap of $14.42 billion. Its YTD (year-to-date) price movement is falling day by day. Alcoa’s income has fallen every quarter.

China’s Credit Growth Metrics Expanded in August
By tracking credit growth in China (MCHI), investors can gauge patterns that forecast future demand.

Iron Ore Shipments Remain Strong for August
Iron ore shipments through Port Hedland reached an all-time high of 39.2 million tons in August as compared to 35.3 million tons in July.