Excerpt from Minebox News, Sep 17th 2009

Mining giant BHP Billiton says improving economic conditions in China will help drive demand for commodities including coal and iron ore. The company said today it would engage in benchmark iron ore pricing talks with Asian steel mills next month. It said the economic upswing in China was well advanced.

“Developed nation restock has started, and it will be 2010 before true demand emerges,” the company said. China’s gross domestic product expanded 7.9 per cent in the second quarter as the nation became the first major economy to rebound from the global recession. The recovery helped support a 66 per cent surge in metals prices this year.

BHP said global steel demand would double over the next 15 years. “Demand for iron ore, a key steelmaking ingredient, is robust in the long term,” the company said. “China and emerging nations will underpin that growth.” Chairman Don Argus said the global economy was showing signs of stabilising and large, developed economies might show real growth as early as the end of 2010.

“China is showing signs of improvement,” he said. China accounted for $9.9 billion, or 19.7 per cent, of BHP’s sales in the year ended June 30.