Bracing for the journey ahead

BHP has already factored market changes in China, says top executive

December is normally associated with celebrating achievements and chalking out action plans for the year ahead. But for Andrew Mackenzie, the chief executive officer of mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd, December was the culmination of an eventful journey as it shipped its one-billionth metric ton of iron ore to China.

Though the sheer volume of the shipments made over the last four decades would enthrall most chief executives, Mackenzie is more pragmatic when he says that it is also a time of introspection due to the changing market realities in China.