BHP Billiton last month revised downwards its forecast of “peak steel” production in China, the world’s largest producer of the stuff. It will happen, BHP said, some time in the mid-2020s and the peak will be between 935 and 985 million tonnes, or 960 million in the middle of that range. Rio Tinto, by contrast, is sticking with its call that the peak will come around 2030 and will be around one billion tonnes. BHP’s shift of stance grabbed a lot of media coverage. After all, these are two of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and China is the world’s largest buyer of their product. For BHP and Rio and their shareholders “peak steel” in China is more than just an academic talking-point. When it comes and at what level […]