The world’s largest mining company profited from improvements in its iron ore, coal and petroleum businesses, with profit from the former rising by 60 percent, powered by production from its Western Australia mines which produced a record of 108 million tonnes.
The Anglo-Australian company's Queensland coal operations also saw output reach a record. "Strong operating performance across BHP Billiton's diversified portfolio in the December 2013 half year delivered a 10 percent increase in production, with records achieved across three commodities and 10 operations," the company said in a statement.
The company also gave rise to increased shareholder confidence by stating that it believes the global economy will recover further during the rest of this year. "In the developed world, Europe experienced a period of relative stability while the United States economy accelerated, with continued improvement in private sector balance sheets a key supporting factor. The balance of risk to global growth is skewed to the upside, particularly given the broad based alignment of macroeconomic indicators in the major developed economies.”
