BHP may sell aluminium units: report

BHP Billiton Ltd chief executive Marius Kloppers has said the miner may consider selling its under-performing aluminium units as their role in the company weakens against robust growth in the iron ore, copper, coking coal, potash and petroleum sectors, according to a report by The Australian.

The roughly $US200 billion ($A194 billion) worth of potential growth in the stronger sectors may force the company to raise the bar it uses to judge whether the size of sectors, such as aluminium, justifies their existence within BHP's portfolio.

“I think in 10 years' time, the portfolio, in terms of the number of assets and in terms of number of products, will be smaller than it is today,” Mr Kloppers said, according to The Australian.

Separately, Mr Kloppers spoke out strongly against the Labor government's Fair Work Act, saying it has made it too easy for workers to strike, while complicating relations between employers and unions, according to the Australian Financial Review.

“It has broadened the range of issues that can be put on the table because the regulations around prohibited content are not the same,” Mr Kloppers said, according to the AFR. “That means negotiations are more complex. In a tight labour environment like we've seen, that leads to fairly protracted discussions.”

Mr Kloppers had previously been mostly quiet about industrial relations and related government policy, but his comments add to a growing sense of dissatisfaction among larger companies about the effects of the Fair Work Act, especially after the grounding of the Qantas fleet in late October, according to the AFR.