The BHP Billiton production report for their fourth quarter and for the for the full year was released this morning

The BHP Billiton production report for their fourth quarter and for the for the full year was released this morning. If you want to download it, check it out here: BHP BILLITON PRODUCTION REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2010. Wow, some of the headlines are pretty mind blowing: "Western Australia Iron Ore achieved its tenth consecutive annual production record." and "Petroleum delivered its third consecutive annual production record following the successful delivery of a series of growth projects in the Gulf of Mexico (USA) and Australia." And that division is much higher margin than their others.



Some of the commentary, if you did not download the report: "BHP Billiton continues to be cautious on the short term outlook for the global economy. Uncertainty surrounds the near term prospects for growth in the developed world as governments adjust fiscal policies following a period of significant stimulus and subsequent increase in sovereign debt levels. Within China, measures introduced to reduce growth to more sustainable levels means volatility in commodity end-demand is likely to persist. BHP Billiton sees these measures as a normal continuation of China's economic management policies."



Iron Ore, petroleum and Copper. That is where it is at for the company. OK, so let's look at the year on year production number, the petroleum division was astonishingly better, barrels of oil equivalent rose on a yearly basis from 137.97 million barrels to 158.56 million barrels, all driven by crude oil production. As BHP Billiton pointed out, those projects that came online during the course of the year really helped. I guess that they will struggle to get to these levels next year, with all the bans on drilling in the gulf, it could be tough. Copper production was much less than last year, production problems at Olympic Dam and Escondida impacting the overall number, 13 thousand tonnes less in concentrate and around 120 tonnes less cathode production. Olympic dam around 90 thousand tonnes less on the year.



And then Iron Ore. Total Iron ore production for the full year, 124.9 million tonnes, increases from all of their production areas. But ten and a half million tonnes more produced. So that is a great outcome. The clock is still ticking on the Rio Tinto JV, with BHP Billiton. All in all quite a good report, even if they are cautious in the short term.