Objective that the Regional Council of IledeFrance jFrom an environmental point of view eitherBy fear of the unknown considers the HRDHowever a new time appears out of the questionprovided that this confirms temper Eric DuboisHow to do whereas the OECD provides a public deficit of 8Imagine a moment that the left was in powerBecause Barack Obama is a marathon runnerA change of method validated by the ElyseeIt was rather hard but for the good causeMining giant who dreamed up to little, to double in size with the acquisition of its rival Rio Tinto submits today, like his former prey to a drastic regime. By presenting its production figures in the last quarter of 2008, BHP Billiton, a group which employs 101.000 people in the world, announced that it would reduce its workforce by approximately 6, corresponding to approximately 6,000 post deletions. Ravensthorpe, Australia mining complex, which officially opened its doors in May 2008, supposed to produce 50,000 tonnes of nickel per year at full capacity, will be suspended activity sine die. The nickel and cobalt refinery fueled by Ravensthorpe will know the same fate because of "the continued deterioration of the prospects for the nickel market", explained the company.
Some 1,800 jobs permanent and subcontracting (70 of the total) will be deleted on these only two sites. This serious choice will also result in an impairment of assets in the first half of 2009, completed December 31, 2008, from $ 1.2 billion US and which will be followed by a second tranche in the last half (which will close June 30) additional $ 400 million.
Deferral of projects
Copper is the other base metal that undergoes more cuts. In Chile, first producer countries of red metal, will be approximately eliminated 2,000 jobs for subcontractors (84 of the total) and direct employees of BHP Billiton. For the most part, these deletions of posts are to be assigned to the deferral of projects and capital expenditures deemed too high. The fearsome machine war of BHP Billiton is therefore obliged to comply with the sharp reversal of the market of mineral resources. But it is not down. Far from it. In the latter half, the number one of industrial raw materials offered luxury break, once again, his previous production records in iron ore (21 of its Ebit according to several analysts) and the copper cathodes (18 of the Ebit with zinc, lead, precious metals, molybdenum and uranium). In the last quarter, the volumes delivered for the main products of the extractive company declined generally in limited proportions, often lower or equal to 5.
Organic growth
However, some less central resources for enterprise production is bent quite frankly, the image of those of the uranium, molybdenum, manganese or thermal coal. Total operational budget of the last quarter of 2008 of BHP Billiton is rather reassuring as a whole in view of the terrible context. Marius Kloppers is well aware. Commenting on this report, he said that the productive performance of his company "has been particularly robust. He also claimed the taking of initiatives "timely and appropriate" to adapt to the degraded environment. To a healthy balance sheet, in contrast to rival Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton continues to invest in organic growth in iron ore, oil, aluminium, manganese and coal. Acquisitions are not excluded. "In the current market conditions", concludes the number one mine. The message is clear: after a handful of mixed quarters, the business will resume again. The market seems to share this vision. Yesterday, in Sydney, BHP Billiton action is dropped only 1. The addition was comparable to London.
