* Energy coal chief promoted to head biggest business
* Outgoing Ashby rattled market with bearish outlook
* Ashby leaves amid $11 bln iron ore expansion
* BHP shares up 1.6 pct, outpacing market
MELBOURNE, March 30 (Reuters) – BHP Billiton’s
veteran iron ore chief, Ian Ashby, is stepping
down after 25 years with the world’s biggest miner, it said on
Friday, just 12 days after he rattled global markets with a
bearish iron ore outlook.
BHP’s energy coal head, Jimmy Wilson, 50, will take over the
reins of the iron ore business, BHP’s biggest revenue earner and
most profitable arm over the past several years.
Ashby, 55, head of the world’s third-largest iron ore
producer, rocked global markets last week when he warned that
iron ore demand growth was “flattening” in China, the world’s
top consumer of iron ore and BHP’s biggest customer.
The comments knocked iron ore prices and mining stocks
worldwide last week.
BHP’s statement did not give a reason for Ashby’s departure.
Continued…
