China to shoulder global growth as developed economies recover from COVID-19, mining giant BHP says

Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP said on Tuesday that China will be the only major economy to grow this year, while coronavirus recovery in developed countries lags, the South China Morning Post reported.

In its full-year earnings report, the diversified miner forecasted China to be shouldering the bulk of global growth in the next several years, with developed countries not starting recovery until 2021.

"While the outlook for 2021 remains uncertain, within the scenarios that we consider, our base case has the world economy rebounding solidly during the year," BHP said in its outlook.

"There will, however, be considerable variation at the country level," it was quoted as saying.

The company said it expected the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to return to their pre-COVID-19 trend growth rates by around 2023.

The downbeat predictions cast a shadow over global demand for commodities in the near future, including iron ore and coal.

"[Global] recovery prospects and speed may prove very uneven, varying considerably by country, thereby affecting demand for our commodities," BHP chief executive Mike Henry said in an online presentation.

The company narrowly missed its full-year profit target after lower oil and coal earnings and higher one-off costs, including expenses caused by its pandemic response, the report said.