BHP Billiton (BHP)

[winston]

UPDATE 2-BHP Billiton sees mixed commodities demand outlook

* BHP Q4 iron ore output drops 10 pct
* China's build up of commodities inventory almost complete
* Restocking starting to occur in North America

By James Regan

SYDNEY, July 22 (Reuters) - Restocking of commodities in China may have ended, coinciding with fresh inventory building in other markets and painting a mixed picture for global demand, BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) (BLT.L), the world's largest miner, said.

Analysts have long warned that an upturn in demand for copper, iron ore, nickel and other industrial staples could have had more to do with buyers in China lapping up imported tonnages at cheaper prices as a $585-billion domestic stimulus package took shape ahead of any recovery in overseas industrial activity.

"Investment levels for most commodities have been relatively low, making it difficult to gauge what is restocking and what is real demand," said Rob Craigie, an analyst for FW Holst & Co.

Since last September, as the financial malaise gripped commodities, China almost alone has kept world commodities markets above water, in some months reporting record imports.

In the short term, BHP Billiton said, underlying demand trends in its markets for minerals and metals were still being masked by de-stock and stocking activities, despite evidence of activity in North America, Japan and Europe.

"The 2009 financial year proved to be very challenging, with significant demand contraction exacerbated by dramatic movements in inventory levels," BHP Billiton said.

In its June quarter production report on Wednesday, the firm reported a 10 percent fall in iron ore output to 27.048 million tonnes after its operations were hit by mining fatalities and flooding in Australia.

By comparison, Australian rival Rio Tinto (RIO.AX)(RIO.L) this week posted record quarterly production of 53 million tonnes from its Australian mines.

"Give is safety issues, BHP was always going to come in with a lower number, so this was not entirely unexepcted," said James Wilson, a mining analyst with DJ Carmichael & Co in Perth.

"But iron ore is less important to BHP, which has its butter spread thinner than Rio and can make it up in other commodities, where Rio cannot," Wilson said.

BHP Billiton's output of metallurgical coal, used in steel-making, rose 4 percent in the June quarter on the previous year, while copper output fell 21 percent, BHP Billiton said.

Copper production was cut due to lower grade ore mining and reduced output from milling operations at its 57.5 percent-owned Escondida copper mine in Chile, the company said.

BHP said it would shut its troublesome Laguna mill at Escondida in the September 2009 quarter for 45 days to do repairs and boost reliability.

A second mill was operating normally, a company spokesman said.

Escondida's mined copper output was down 37 percent to 111,500 tonnes, while cathode production rose 22 percent to 49,400 tonnes in the last quarter.

BHP also reported production up 6 percent in petroleum products in the year and 4 percent higher in the last quarter on prior corresponding quarter.

Output of all base metals was down on the year, except for zinc.

Iron ore production in the fourth quarter of 27.048 million tonnes took full year output to 114.415 million tonnes, up 2 percent on the year but short of a targeted 130 million tonnes.

In April, the company warned of missing the target over safety issues in the iron ore division during the year and bad weather in earlier quarters.

BHP Billiton responded to five fatalities in the iron ore division by limiting site access and suspending some night work.

In fiscal 2009, 68 percent of iron ore sales from its Western Australian operations were based on annually agreed pricing.

This compares with more than half of spot sales by rival Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc (RIO.AX)(RIO.L) so far in calendar 2009.

Neither BHP Billiton or Rio Tinto have announced any contract sales agreements for the current shipping year with customers in China, a main market for ore shipments.

BHP Billiton has said it would like to scrap annual contract sales in favour of more market-based pricing, such as indexing.

[winston]

WHERE THE BULL MARKETS ARE by Brian Hunt

Breakouts. Everywhere we look in the commodity markets, we see breakouts.

Breakouts are one of the great "common sense" charting tools available to traders. It's simply when the price of a stock or commodity reaches a new high for a given period of time. No trend can start without one.

Here's this week's list of major commodity stock breakouts, aka, "where the bull markets are": BHP Billiton (world's largest mining company), Silver Wheaton (largest silver royalty company), Peabody Energy (largest public coal company), the Market Vectors Agribusiness Fund (food and fertilizer producers), Petrobras (Big Oil). And don't forget a fresh high in the Venture Index as well.

How about the commodities themselves? Try copper, gold, silver, and platinum. Crude oil, lead, aluminum, zinc, cotton, and sugar are within spitting distance of breakouts as well.

In addition to a bullish supply/demand picture, legendary investor Jim Rogers likes commodities because of the potential inflationary explosion the Federal Reserve is creating. As you can see from the chart below, he has the trend on his side.

Source: Daily Wealth

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[img]Screen%20Shot%202012-12-10%20at%2010.18.26%20PM.png[/img]

[winston]

not vested

7 Large-Cap Stocks to Sell Right Away: BHP Billiton Ltd (ADR) (BHP)
Market Cap: $131.5 billion
Industry: Commodities

Ever since China has slowed its massive multi-year double-digit economic growth, commodities — materials that are building blocks of industrial production — have been hammered.

So it only makes sense that commodity-focused companies would not be doing very well.

BHP Billiton Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:BHP) is the world’s largest diversified mining firm. The Australia-based company does it all, from iron ore to aluminum to coal, and has mines throughout the world.

In 2011, the stock was 100% higher than it is today because it was on a merger spree, looking to expand operations particularly in Australia so it could be the miner of choice for China’s booming heavy industry.

But now that China has cooled and the global economy has yet to get back on a growth track, BHP is a gigantic mining concern with a anorexic customer base.

It also has a $410 million tax dispute with Australia and Standard & Poor’s just downgraded its debt outlook to negative due to low iron ore and coal prices.

It’s going to take a lot to turn this titan back to the growth track. Stay away until that happens.

Source: InvestorPlace

[behappyalways]

BHP Billiton sinks to $5.67bn loss
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35635825

[winston]

not vested

Metals & Mining Stocks to Buy: BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (BHP)

When it comes to the mega-mining stocks, you can’t get more mega than BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (BHP).

BHP has its hands in many natural resources. That includes everything from copper and nickel to iron ore and crude oil.

That huge, diversified pool of natural resources provides BHP plenty of revenue diversification. Copper’s not doing so well? Odds are thermal coal is.

The problem is when all of them are sputtering.

And sputter they did. BHP reported its first profit loss in nearly 16 years and, perhaps even more painfully, the miner cut its dividend.

And yet, BHP may be a great value in the making. By cutting its dividend, BHP saves itself some serious cash and helps keep its credit rating high.

There are going to be plenty of struggling miners with great assets hitting the market soon enough. BHP will have the cash to snag them up on the cheap and capitalize on the opportunities.

Secondly, the dividend cut and its robust balance sheet should help BHP “kick the can” long enough for the cyclical nature of commodities to kick back in.

In the meantime, investors can sit back and collect a post-cut 5.8% dividend yield.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

not vested

BHP Misses Iron Ore Guidance, Sees Up To $175 Million Writedown From Coal Mines Closure

By Shuli Ren

BHP Billiton (BHP.Australia/BHP) slipped 4.2% in Sydney this morning as iron ore prices softened and after the miner warned of additional charges from closing its coal mines.

Some of the share weakness comes from iron ore prices.

Spot iron ore closed 2% lower on Tuesday at $55.1, while iron ore futures traded in China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange slumped 4.1% as China’s home price rally slows.

But some of it is company-specific as well. Total output from BHP’s iron ore mines in Australia in the year ending June 30 was 257 million metric ton, below the company’s April guidance of 260 million tons. This number is in line with street consensus however.

BHP also said it would include up to $175 million of “additional charges”, most of which will come from write-downs, “predominantly in our Coal business.”

Source: Barron's Asia

[winston]

not vested

BHP Billiton Raises Dividend, Cuts Debt As Iron Ore Price Hits New High

By Shuli Ren

Two things were in focus: dividends and debt deleveraging.

BHP Billiton announced dividends at $0.40 per share, above the consensus forecast of $0.34 and implying a decent 66% payout ratio.

Meanwhile, net debt at BHP fell 23% from a year ago to $20 billion.

BHP kept its full-year 2017 capital expenditure guidance unchanged at $6.4 billion.

Source: Barron's Asia

http://blogs.barrons.com/asiastocks/201 ... -new-high/

[winston]

not vested

BHP Billiton Shares Surge as Activist Elliott Urges Petroleum Spin Off

By Robert Guy

The New York-based fund manager has written to BHP directors urging the Australian mining giant to demerge its U.S. petroleum assets, which Elliott valued at approximately US$22 billion, and reform its dual-listed company structure. Shares in the resources giant soared 4.6% to AUD25.73 each.

Elliott, which holds a 4.1% stake in the U.K.-listed shares of BHP, claims the reforms would create 48% more value for Australian shareholders and 51% more value for London shareholders.

BHP Billiton has bulked up its petroleum business in recent years through the acquisition of U.S shale player Petrohawk in 2011 for around $12 billion. The Big Australian wrote down its U.S .petroleum assets by $2 billion in 2015.

CEO Andrew Mackenzie:
Our preference is still, in the medium to long term, to grow in oil and copper, or to add oil and copper production units, and then possibly potash.

It does not mean that we completely neglect some of the things in the bulk. We still have some work to do in order to de–bottleneck the port, to match obviously the mine capacity that we now have, with the full ramp up of Jimblebar, and the real capacity to move towards 290mt.

Source: Barron's Asia

http://blogs.barrons.com/asiastocks/201 ... -spin-off/

[winston]

Why This Analyst Thinks BHP Billiton Is Overvalued

By Johanna Bennett

Hodge also says the Australian mining giant is overvalued, and predicts that BHP’s share price will fall, perhaps another 18% to $29 a share.

The ASX-listed BHP Billiton Limited shares trades at a premium to the London-listed BHP Billiton PLC shares.

Source: Barron's Asia

http://blogs.barrons.com/asiastocks/201 ... vervalued/