BHP Sees More Demand for Ore

BRISBANE, Australia (TheStreet) -- BHP Billiton's(BHP Quote) chief executive made some fairly optimistic remarks at the iron-ore giant's annual shareholder meeting Down Under, saying that demand for raw materials has improved even in regions not named China.

The BHP boss, Marius Kloppers, said the slowly recovering U.S. and Europe markets may have begun restocking raw materials. He also noted that "market sentiment" has improved over the last month, but, he added, "We continue to believe that we will come out of this recession less strongly than in previous recessions," according to reports from media organs present at the meeting.

As for the People's Republic, Kloppers said that the Chinese restocking process may very well have reached an end -- a process that had fueled the run-up in commodities prices this summer and fall.

Still, Kloppers registered surprise that the Chinese steel industry has remained as robust as it has -- words that many observers interpreted as an indication that BHP and its ore brethren Rio Tinto(RTP Quote) and Vale(VALE Quote) will seek higher prices for their stuff during contract negotiations with buyers this year, including China's steel industry.

During his speech, Kloppers also shot down rumors that ore rival Rio Tinto might back out of a planned joint venture in which the two miners would combine forces to extract ore in Western Australia.