BHP Billiton to Combine Coal Businesses
BHP Billiton announced during early
March that, as part of the decision to
manage the Energy Coal business alongside
the Iron Ore, Manganese and
Metallurgical Coal businesses, both businesses
would now be brought together
under a single Customer Sector Group
President. The current President Metallurgical
Coal, Dave Murray, will become
President of Coal, with responsibility for
both the Metallurgical Coal and Energy
Coal businesses. He will continue to
report to Chris Lynch, Group President
Carbon Steel Materials. Murray has vast
experience in the coal industry and
specifically in South Africa.
Lynch said the integration of the
Energy Coal assets into the broader
Carbon Steel Materials group had been
successfully completed and the next stage
was to combine the coal businesses under
a single Customer Sector Group President.
He said the combination would further
strengthen BHP Billiton’s commitment to
improving and enhancing the operations of
the Group’s coal assets in Australia, South
Africa, Colombia, the U.S. and Indonesia.
There will be no change to the group’s
marketing structure.
“This combination will allow us to
maximize the operating synergies between
our coal businesses and facilitate
the transfer of skills and systems
between countries and operations,” said
Lynch. “It confirms our commitment to
further improve the coal business in each
of the countries where we operate.”
Lynch said that the current President
Energy Coal, Mahomed Seedat, played a
valuable leadership role in the Energy
Coal business and, in particular, made
significant progress in improving the performance
of the South African Energy
Coal assets.