Yesterday I didn’t make much of the BHP announcement that it would delay some port work for one year which would also slow its rise from 275 million tonnes (mt) of output per year to 290mt. It didn’t register for me because I have never included the move to 290mt in my calculations given it was always so fanciful two years out.
But the wider media have had a field day with it. According to the great momentary machine BHP has blinked, BHP has baulked, BHP hits brakes, BHP has been bowed by political and competitor pressure. Perhaps the last is partly true and the Big Australian felt a little sop would ease the pressure.
If so, ‘BHP has blundered’ is much closer to the truth.
