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BHP Group Ltd on Tuesday reported a sharp drop in interim profit, mostly due to falling prices for iron ore and copper, as it put two Queensland coal mines up for sale. In its half year to December 31, the Australian mining company said revenue fell 16% to $25.71 billion from $30.53 billion a year before. The decline was mostly the result of lower realised prices for iron ore and copper, BHP said. The average price for a wet metric tonne of iron ore free on board dropped to $85.46 during the period, down 25% from $113.54 a year before. The price for copper fell to $3.49 per pound, a 19% drop from $4.31. ‘Significant wet weather in our coal assets impacted production and unit costs, as did challenges in securing sufficient labour. Inventory movements during the half contributed to costs, including the planned draw-down at Olympic Dam after inventory built up during the smelter refurbishment last year,’ said Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry. Attributable profit dropped 32% to $6.46 billion from $9.44 billion, while basic earnings per share came in at 127.5 cents, down sharply from 186.6 cents. Pretax profit fell 30% to $10.18 billion from $14.49 billion. As well as the lower iron ore and copper prices, BHP said profit was also hit from the higher royalties due to increased Queensland government royalty rates. ‘As a result of the Queensland government‘
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