BHP Billiton yesterday warned that a global glut of steel will hit “near-term demand” for steelmaking commodities such as iron ore and coking coal, two of the star performers in raw materials markets so far this year. The views of the world’s biggest miner are closely watched by commodities traders as the company has a unique vantage on global trends, producing industrial raw materials from iron ore to copper and thermal coal.
“With global steel production running ahead of real demand in the quarter ended June 2010, we expect output to soften from the record highs achieved in April,” the miner said in its annual results report.
Steelmakers in China, Japan, Europe and the US have already announced output cuts for the second half of the year.