BHP's cumulative iron ore exports to China exceeded 3bn tonnes

A celebration of BHP's export of 3 billion tonnes of iron ore to China was held in Shanghai. BHP Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry said in his speech that BHP achieved this achievement because of the close cooperation and mutual benefit between BHP and its Chinese customers, and the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides has added to the prosperity of the world.

BHP said it took more than a decade to increase its iron ore exports to China from 100m tonnes to 1bn tonnes, while the leap from 1bn to 3bn tonnes took just over nine years. This is a testament to China's rapid economic growth over the past decade. To meet China's surging demand for iron ore, BHP Billiton has invested tens of billions of dollars in Western Australia over the past few decades to expand iron ore production capacity, from 65 million tons in the early years to the current 285 million tons.
BHP said it was on track to reach its medium-term target of 305m tonnes, while studying a long-term production target of 330m tonnes.