BHP and China are negotiating around the price of contract renewals. China needs BHP’s ore, and BHP needs to sell it to them, so we expect a resolution in the next week or so, hopefully it doesn’t squeeze BHP too hard. However, it’s also important to remember that BHP is already generating more revenue from copper than iron ore, with the company rapidly becoming less dependent on the bulk commodity.
- We regard the current news around China and BHP as noise, and the “Big Australian” can still test the $45 area over the coming months.