BHP Billiton the world’s largest mining company

BHP Billiton has produced a record amount of 57.1mt iron ore in the September 2014 quarter.
BHP Billiton expects to produce roughly 225mt in its 2015 fiscal year.
Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) have both already reported record third quarter production figures.
BHP is the world’s third biggest producer of iron ore behind Brazil’s Vale and Anglo-Australian outfit Rio Tinto. The dramatic rise in output, combined with a slowdown in China’s steel demand has resulted in the iron ore price falling to multi-year lows. BHP and Rio Tinto have been able to withstand the drop in prices because they produce iron ore at a lower cost than smaller competitors. Global seaborne output will exceed demand by 26mt this year and 41mt in 2015, according to Swiss investment bank UBS.
BHP Billiton planning to reduce annual costs by $2.3bn by fiscal 2017 as it reduces iron ore unit costs “by at least 25%" to less than $20 per tonne.