BHP Billiton Plans To Cut Unit Costs At Western Australia Iron Ore

(RTTNews) - BHP Billiton (BHP) announced plans to cut unit costs at Western Australia Iron Ore or WAIO by at least 25 per cent and the potential to increase capacity there by 65 million tonnes per year at a very low capital cost.

?BHP Billiton President Iron Ore, Jimmy Wilson, said, "We continue to see healthy demand growth for iron ore in the mid-term as Chinese steel production is expected to increase by approximately 25 per cent to between 1.0 and 1.1 billion tonnes in the early to mid-2020s,"

BHP Billiton said it could add 65 million tonnes of capacity at WAIO at a capital intensity of approximately $30 per annual tonne, taking total system capacity from 225 Mtpa to 290 Mtpa by the end of the 2017 financial year.

The company also said that it expects to see a compound annual growth rate for global steel production of between 2.5 and 3.0 per cent between now and 2030.