The company’s logo adorns the side of BHP Billiton’s global headquarters in Melbourne on February 21, 2023. % – which reached $6.46 billion in the six months ended December 31.
William West | AFP | Getty Images
BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer McHenry said he expected China’s real estate industry to rebound in the coming year, supported by preferential government policies.
Henry admitted that China’s real estate sector is a “weak spot” in steel demand, but he was optimistic about a series of measures recently announced by the Chinese government.
“The government has recently enacted policies aimed at supporting the real estate industry … and we expect that the real estate industry may improve in the coming year,” Henry said.
In recent months, China has introduced a series of measures aimed at stabilizing the real estate industry. Said to have accounted for 25% to 30% of the country’s GDP. Take Beijing as an example Eliminate lowest mortgage rates nationwide And lower the minimum down payment ratio for first-time home buyers from the previous 20% to 15%.
May, The central bank also announced that it will allocate 300 billion yuan Loans to financial institutions ($42.25 billion) and to local state-owned enterprises for the purchase of completed, unsold apartments.
On Saturday, China’s Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong said China’s real estate industry still has “huge potential and space” This scale continues to expand as the country continues to urbanize and demand for quality housing grows.
BHP Billiton reported annual underlying profit growth of 2% on Tuesdayattributed the growth to “solid operating performance and rising commodity prices for key commodities.”
However, Henry noted that there is still “a little bit of volatility” in China’s steel demand, which has been under pressure from the property sector.
But the chief executive said there were other industries in China that made healthy contributions to steel demand, such as infrastructure, shipping and automobiles.
Australian shares BHP Billiton It rose 1.97% in Tuesday trading.
