BHP Expects Commodities To Stabilize, But Recovery To Be Slow
May 26 2009 - 8:50PM
Dow Jones News
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BH.AU) Chief Executive Marius Kloppers said
Wednesday the miner expects commodity prices to stabilize in the
next three to six months, but does not expect to a sharp
rebound.
"We do expect to see stabilization in the next three to six
months as the OECD finds its new base demand level and short-term
stock issues in China are resolved," he said in the text of a
speech delivered at the Minerals Week conference in Canberra
"We, however, do not expect a sharp rebound as our view is that
overall world economic recovery will be slow and protracted."
Kloppers said the U.S. economy still poses downside risks and
Japan is looking particularly weak but that recent trends in China
give some cause for "cautious optimism" although the ability of the
Chinese government's stimulus package to offset declining exports
remains unclear.
Kloppers said BHP believes early action on climate change will
deliver benefits but that a global regime is needed to provide
certainty for investment in carbon reduction to occur while still
promoting economic growth.
-By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2094;
alex.wilson@dowjones.com