MELBOURNE (Commodity Online) : BHP Billiton, world’s largest miner said Wednesday its iron ore output created yet another record in the fourth quarter.

In a statement issued here, BHP said half-year production records were set for petroleum and iron ore. Nickel and zinc also recorded half-year production runs.



Iron ore production jumped 11 per cent to 32.449 million tones for the three months to December from the previous year, the statement said.

That took production for the half year to 62.6 million tones, also a record figure.

Petroleum production also recorded another half-year record,according to BHP. Production jumped 16 per cent to 38.36 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in the fourth quarter from the previous year.

This helped the half-year number to jump 17 per cent to 79.57 million BOE.

BHP said there had been a strong price recovery "across the commodity suite", driven by demand from China and restocking in the developed world.

Looking ahead, BHP said the speed of recovery in developed economies remained uncertain, especially given the withdrawal of government stimulus, while China's moves to control loan growth could have an effect on demand.

"Consequently, we expect some degree of volatility in the short term outlook for commodities," BHP said.

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