BHP Billiton: A powerhouse or a household name?
Running factories, manufacturing products, and shipping goods all require natural resources such as iron, copper, and oil. As the world economy has grown, such goods have been in high demand, driving up prices. Leading the way in supplying natural resources is BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company.
BHP Billiton was formed in 2001 as a merger of two large companies: BHP (an Australian firm) and Billiton (a British firm). Both had long histories. BHP was founded in 1885. Starting with a single mine in Australia, it later branched out into steel production, ship building, gold mining, and other areas.
The other half of the merger, Billiton, also brought a proud past to the team. From its start in 1860, the company was an international player, as its first mine was in Indonesia. The company became very strong in mining metals such as lead, copper, and silver.
Along with its deep experience, BHP Billiton’s size is a key advantage. In the natural resources industry, mines and companies often change hands. Large companies can buy new assets and fight off hungry competitors. In fact, from 1983 to 1986, a competitor tried (and failed) to buy BHP four different times. It no longer seems likely that BHP Billiton, with a stock value of more than $175 billion, will be devoured by another company.
Another key concern is bad weather, which can shut down mines. With assets worldwide, BHP Billiton can reduce the impact of poor weather. Consider the nine-month period ending in March 2006, one of the best ever for the company. Despite serious weather problems, nickel production was still at a record high (see chart). While one nickel mine was affected by heavy rains, another mine increased production.
The recent rise in resource prices has meant amazing profits for BHP Billiton. (It earned profits of $13.7 billion in 2007.) However, just as prices can rise, so can they fall. Also, the company must deal with environmental groups demanding cleaner and safer mines. With operations in 25 countries, BHP Billiton is in a strong position to face these challenges while holding onto the top spot in its industry.
Q & A
1. What is the article’s tone?
- A. Doubtful
- C. Critical
- B. Negative
- D. Praising
2. Before the merger, BHP and Billiton:
- A. were small companies that were having trouble surviving
- B. were both very well established
- C. both focused on mining operations in Australia
- D. tried to acquire each other several times
3. Large companies enjoy key advantages. Which of these advantages is not mentioned in the article?
- A. The means to keep costs down
- B. An ability to purchase new mines
- C. Security against takeover attempts
- D. Purchasing power to acquire other companies
4. Which of the following is true about the company’s nine-month period ending March 2006?
- A. Even with record profits, there were some areas that performed poorly.
- B. Production increased for all the natural resources sold by the company.
- C. Poor weather affected almost every BHP Billiton operation.
- D. Silver production fell more than diamond production.
5. According to the article, why does BHP Billiton need to continue working hard?
- A. It’s likely that an even larger mining company will try to take it over.
- B. Hard work will be needed before the company can turn a profit.
- C. The prices of natural resources are not stable.
- D. The size of the company makes it difficult to manage operations.
How would you describe this chart?
Comparative Language
Year-on-Year Reporting
On/Over
Definition: Year-on-year growth rates are rates of change expressed over the corresponding period (month or quarter in relation to the frequency of the data) of the previous year.
The key to making a good introduction is to having all the pieces ready, and then using them in the correct order, but always being flexible to adapt to each situation that you are in.
«Good evening everyone.»
Tip* Never start with «good night» – Good night = good bye
«My name is Eric …»
«Today, we will look at the bar chart from a year-on-year approach, broken down into five sub-categories.»
«This will take me a few minutes, so please hold any questions until the end of the presentation.»
«So let’s get the ball rolling!»
«As the title states, we will be looking at BHP year-on-year production change from 2005 to 2006.»
«For those of you who are not familiar with the year-on-year approach, let me give you a quick orientation …»
«… a year-on-year reporting shows the rate of change expressed over the corresponding period of the previous year …»
«On the left-hand side you can see the increase or decrease between 2005 and 2006.»
«Across the bottom you can see the subcategories: nickel, copper, natural gas, silver, and diamonds.»
(start using comparative language here: use on/over)
«… as we can see in the first column the production of nickel saw a significant increase of 100% over/on 2005 …»
«… and as you can see in the second column, the production of copper in 2006 increased about 20% over/on the same period in 2005 …»
«… Now, I would like to highlight that the third and fourth columns both saw slight changes …»
«… natural gas had a very slight increase in production over 2005 …»
«… silver experienced a very slight decrease over 2005 …»
«… and in the final column we can see that the production of diamonds decreased about 25% over the same period ending in 2005.»
«and if you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to ask and have a nice evening.»
a natural resource (noun) – a raw material from the earth (such as oil or copper).
ex. Many conflicts around the world exist to do to search for natural resources.
a challenge (noun) – a problem that requires focus and hard work to deal with.
a merger (noun) – the joining of two companies or groups into a single organization.
deep (adj.) – wide and impressive.
a player (noun) – an important person or company in a group or industry.
an asset (noun) – an item owned by a company or a person.
an impact (noun) – an influence or effect on something else.
a record (noun) – highest or largest ever.
to affect (verb) – to change or influence.
to manufacture (verb) – to make something from materials.
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Opening Lines
“First, let’s take a look at …”
“To get started, let’s take a look at …”
“Let’s get the ball rolling with the first column …”
Advancing
«Now, I would like to move on to …”
“Then, as you can see, the …”
“In order to keep the ball rolling, I want to …”
Closing Lines
“And finally, if we look at …”
“To wrap up, we can see …”
“Moving onto the final area …”
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