(Reuters) – BHP Group Ltd reported a 32.1% drop in its first-half profit on Tuesday, as a stringent zero-COVID policy in top consumer China weighed on iron ore prices and surging inflation led to higher production costs.
Miners have wrestled with surging costs and a tight labour market amid sharply lower iron ore prices over the latter half of 2022, as China’s strict zero-COVID-19 policy curtailed economic activity and dented demand.
However, the Melbourne-based miner now eyes a recovery in demand for steelmaking products from China as the world’s second largest economy eases COVID curbs and lends support to its struggling property sector.
The world’s largest listed miner said underlying profit attributable from continuing operations was $6.60 billion for the six months ended Dec. 31, compared with $9.72 billion a year earlier. That missed a Vuma Financial estimate of $6.82 billion.
BHP, which offered to buy copper and gold producer OZ Minerals Ltd for A$9.6 billion in November, declared an interim dividend of $0.90 per share, compared with $1.50 per share declared a year earlier.
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
