BHP Billiton Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers said he’s still interested in takeovers even after setting aside $80 billion for BHP’s own projects.
Regulatory concerns are impeding iron-ore acquisitions by the world’s largest mining company, though BHP’s potash, copper, and oil and gas businesses aren’t constrained in the same way, Kloppers said。
Kloppers, after failing last year to buy Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., said his view that asking prices are inflated is based on “prevailing prices that we see today.” Mining takeovers reached a near-record $144.5 billion in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, pushing up sellers’ expectations.
Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, on Feb. 14 forecast high copper prices will continue amid rising demand. The global copper supply deficit will reach 822,000 metric tons in 2011, more than double last year’s shortfall, Barclays Capital said on Jan. 20.
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