BHP Billiton News

Ford Motor Co. will stop making cars in Australia, nine decades after founder Henry Ford first began building Model Ts in the country, as a surge in the currency undermines the local industry's ability to compete with imports.

Service companies that rode the wave of investment in Australian resources are facing harder times, reporting a slew of earnings downgrades and preparing to move their focus overseas as a decade-long mining boom slows.

Australian shares rose 0.3 percent on Friday as firms exposed to the U.S. market benefited from further weakness in the Australian dollar, while big-cap miners like BHP Billiton Ltd rebounded on short-covering. BHP jumped 1.9 percent while rival Rio Tinto Ltd climbed 1.1 percent, which helped offset a weak lead from Wall Street overnight, analysts ... (more)

Asian stock markets were mixed in holiday-thinned trading Friday as investors digested a slew of disappointing economic data and corporate results from the U.S. Applications for unemployment benefits jumped to their highest level in six weeks, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday, while manufacturing slowed in the mid-Atlantic region.

Investment in Australia's resources sector should remain strong over the next three years, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie, which Thursday said fears of a sharp slide in spending after a 2013 peak aren't likely to be realized.

Colombia, one of the top coal exporters in the world, suffered a drop in coal production in the first three months of the year as a result of a labor strike and environmental problems that prompted a halt in output.

Let's make one thing clear: There is no magic formula to determine which company will be the next big buyout story.

Australian shares pared earlier gains and dropped 0.7 percent in late morning trade on Wednesday, as miners deepened their losses on weaker metal prices and offset gains in companies likely to benefit most from weakness in the Australian dollar.

Total, based in Paris, gained exploration access to operate five blocks at the Foz do Amazonas basin in northern Brazil together with partners BP and Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the oil regulator said today.

BHP Billiton Ltd. said Tuesday its capital and exploration expenditure will peak this financial year and then decline in the years ahead, helping the resources company maximize returns from incremental investments and boost free cash flow.

Japanese and Australian stock futures rose after a report showed U.S. retail sales unexpectedly advanced in April, buoying the earnings outlook for Asian exporters.

A number of other firms have also recently commented on BHP. Analysts at RBC Capital reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BHP Billiton in a research note to investors on Wednesday, April 17th.

Australian stocks slipped Monday, as the benchmark opened the week by pulling back from its highest closing level in nearly five years.

BHP Billiton Ltd. , the world's biggest exporter of steelmaking coal, may face a drop in contract prices to a record low in the third quarter amid rising supply and weaker Asian demand.

Mining firms led by BHP Billiton are holding the biggest sale of assets this year just as commodity prices head into a bear market.

A day after Sam Walsh fronted Rio Tinto's annual meeting in Australia for the first time as chief executive, his counterpart at BHP Billiton, Marius Kloppers, will today spend his last day in charge of day-to-day operations at the world's biggest mining company.

Mosaic Co. , the fertilizer maker that was split off from Cargill Inc. two years ago, is poised to become the industry's biggest takeover target after hurdles to a deal are lifted this month.

Global iron ore supplies will expand faster than demand over the long term, potentially lowering prices and reducing volatility of the raw material used to make steel, according to BHP Billiton Ltd.

Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 3 to 5 points higher, or up by as much as 0.1 percent, on Wednesday with strong Chinese trade data set to boost sentiment.

Copper production for the quarter at Capstone's two operating mines, Cozamin and , totalled 18.6 million pounds in concentrates at a C1 cash cost of ) to discuss these results; call-in details are provided at the end of this release.