BHP Plans to Invest Over US$10 Billion in Iron Ore Business Over the Next Five Years

en.Wedoany.com Reported - From September 19 to 20, at the 15th China International Steel Congress held in Shanghai, BHP Chief Executive Officer Brandon Craig said that the company expects to invest more than US$10 billion in its iron ore business over the next five years, with funds to be used to maintain and enhance iron ore production capacity, develop high-quality orebody resources, and continue upgrading port, railway, and other infrastructure. BHP is also maintaining its expansion plan for its Western Australia iron ore business, targeting an increase in production capacity to more than 305 million tonnes per year by the fourth quarter of FY2028, and maintaining that level over the medium term thereafter.

BHP's Western Australia iron ore business consists of mines, ore processing facilities, railways, and ports, with mines in the Pilbara region connected to port facilities by more than 1,000 kilometers of railway. The company has already launched multiple mine and transport system investments, among which the Western Ridge Crusher project is scheduled to achieve first ore production in the first quarter of FY2027; the railway technology program is being advanced to improve railway transport capacity. The company's Western Australia iron ore production and shipments both set records in FY2026.

In terms of mine resource replacement, BHP approved the implementation of the Ministers North iron ore project in July this year. The project involves a total investment of approximately US$900 million and is located southeast of the Yandi mining area in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It will leverage existing Yandi infrastructure and, once ramped up, have an annual production capacity of 20 million tonnes. The works include developing the Ministers North orebody, building a 13-kilometer haul road and land bridge, and upgrading existing Yandi facilities and adding primary and secondary crushing equipment. On-site works for the project are scheduled to commence this year, with first ore expected in FY2029.

At the port stage, BHP has approved the construction of a sixth car dumper and related facilities at Port Hedland, with an investment of approximately US$900 million. Project execution work has already begun and the facility is expected to be put into operation in the fourth quarter of FY2028. The facility will increase the port's ore receiving and unloading capacity and maintain system capacity during the large-scale renewal of existing car dumpers beginning in FY2029, while also increasing ore blending and screening capacity. The railway technology program, the Western Ridge Crusher, and the sixth car dumper are jointly incorporated into the medium-term production arrangement for Western Australia iron ore's annual production capacity of more than 305 million tonnes.

In terms of the copper business, Craig said at the congress that BHP will continue to expand copper production capacity over the next decade. The company's copper production in FY2026 was approximately 2 million tonnes, maintaining that level for the second consecutive year; its existing portfolio of organic growth projects includes the Escondida expansion in Chile and other copper resource projects in South America. BHP's latest plan proposes that by FY2035, copper business production will grow at an average annual rate of approximately 5%, and the existing organic growth plan can increase the group's attributable copper production to approximately 2 million tonnes per year, equivalent to approximately 2.5 million tonnes per year of copper equivalent.

In its commodity outlook released in August, BHP forecast that global copper demand will exceed 50 million tonnes by 2050, and expects the energy transition, digital infrastructure, and power grid expansion to continue increasing copper demand. The company also expects that China's crude steel production will remain at a scale of approximately 1 billion tonnes per year during this decade.