BHP Group, the world’s biggest miner, reported a 37 per cent decline in full-year profit, missing analysts’ forecasts, as China’s struggling economy weighed on demand for iron ore and other commodities.

Underlying attributable profit from continuing operations fell to US$13.4 billion in the 12 months to June 2023, the Melbourne-based company said on Tuesday (Aug 22) in a regulatory filing. BHP will pay a final dividend of 80 US cents per share, compared with US$1.75 the year before.

Earnings from iron ore, the company’s top product, fell 23 per cent, even as production increased by 1 per cent. Coal profits were down 47 per cent, copper was 22 per cent lower, and nickel slumped 61 per cent.

China’s near-term economic outlook was “contingent on the effectiveness of recent policy measures”, chief executive officer Mike Henry said in a statement, adding he expected “buoyant growth in India with strong construction activity underpinning an expansion in steelmaking capacity”.

BHP last year recorded its highest profit ever as commodity prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and post-pandemic supply chain bottlenecks. But 12 months on, recovering supply chains and China’s deteriorating economic outlook have kept downward pressure on iron ore and base metal prices. BHP’s plunging profits mirror those posted by iron ore rival Rio Tinto Group last month.

“China’s demand for iron ore is expected to be lower than it is today as it moves beyond its crude steel production plateau and the scrap-to-steel ratio rises,” BHP said in the report. Still, it added that it expects demand from elsewhere in developing Asia to help offset this. BLOOMBERG

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