SYDNEY (Reuters UK) - Mining giant BHP Billiton (BHP) (BLT) expects to grow its production volumes over the next 12 months by 10 percent despite some softening in demand from its biggest growth driver, China, the group's chief said.
BHP's growth prospects are under the microscope, not only because of concerns that China's economy is coming off the boil but also because BHP's growth plans are central to its hostile $127 billion (68.5 billion pound) bid approach for rival Rio Tinto (RIO) (RIO).
"We've definitely seen some slowdown in the Chinese economy," BHP Chief Executive Marius Kloppers said in a pre-recorded interview aired on Australia's ABC Television on Sunday.
But he stressed that China's economy was still growing four or five times faster than the economies of the developed world and was far more reliant on basic industrial commodities such as iron ore, used for steel-making, and copper.
"You know we always say that we've grown the company at about 7 percent per year in volume terms (and) we said yesterday we want to grow at another 10 percent over the next 12 months," Kloppers said in the interview, which was recorded on Tuesday.
On Monday, BHP reported a 30 percent jump in second-half profit and boosted its dividend, saying it was in good shape to weather a downturn in the commodities cycle.
Rio Tinto is due to report its half-year results on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Louise Heavens)
