BHP CEO Sees 75 Percent in Growth in Copper

At Davos, Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business interviews Mike Henry, the CEO of BHP, about copper and the next wave of demand. There are some huge nuggets in this interview this morning, and looking at the copper miners and suppliers will be critical for investors.

Key Points:

1. BHP’s copper production and growth outlook:
– BHP is the world’s largest copper producer and has grown its copper production by 30% in the past 3 years.
– BHP has several major copper growth projects in the pipeline in the U.S., Chile, Argentina, and Australia that it is focused on progressing.
– BHP is expecting continued strong demand for copper, driven by overall economic growth, the energy transition, and the growth of data centers and AI.

2. BHP’s overall commodity focus and strategy:
– BHP is focused on a small suite of key commodities, with copper and potash being the main growth areas.
– BHP also has a strong iron ore business that helps fund its growth, as well as sizable gold and uranium production.
– BHP is very disciplined about M&A and is not pursuing acquisitions like the potential Rio Tinto-Glencore deal, preferring to focus on its own organic growth projects.

3. The copper market outlook:
– Copper prices have been rising due to supply-side disruptions, while demand has remained strong and consistent.
– BHP expects copper demand to grow by up to 70% over the next 25 years, driven by the factors mentioned earlier.
– BHP sees the copper market facing a growing supply deficit as new large deposits become harder to find and extract.

Here are some of the most interesting and impactful quotes from the interview:

1. “We’ve got big growth options ahead of us in the U.S., in Chile, Argentina, in Australia, and so we’re very focused on how we can go about progressing those projects as quickly as possible because everybody’s now interested in copper.” – Mike Henry, CEO of BHP

This quote highlights BHP’s focus on rapidly developing its major copper growth projects around the world to capitalize on the strong demand.

2. “Longer term, we are expecting up to 70% demand growth in copper over the next 25 years, driven by overall economic growth, energy transition, and importantly, the digital transformation in that, as AI plays out, that’s incredibly energy-intensive.” – Mike Henry

This quote outlines BHP’s bullish long-term outlook for copper demand, driven by factors like the energy transition and the growth of data centers and AI.

3. “It’s used in every walk of life so demand for copper is ubiquitous and then you have these other demand drivers layering it on top of that existing demand so it’s it’s a pretty rosy outlook for for that commodity.” – Mike Henry

This quote emphasizes the widespread and diverse uses of copper, which combined with the new demand drivers, create a very positive outlook for the commodity according to BHP.

4. “We don’t need to pursue M&A. We have a great growth story in our own right and so our real focus is on bringing those four big growth projects we have in copper alongside our growth in in in potash forward as reliably and quickly as Thank you very much.” – Mike Henry

This quote shows BHP’s disciplined approach to M&A, preferring to focus on developing its own internal growth projects rather than pursuing acquisitions.

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