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A 'healthy recovery underway in China

BHP CEO Mike Henry joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down what's driving demand and the importance of the health of the global economy.

Video Transcript
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SEANA SMITH: Welcome back. We've got strong results from BHP this week, the mining giant reporting its best first-half profit in seven years. We want to bring on Mike Henry. He's the CEO of BHP. And Mike, it's great to speak with you, BHP posting a profit jump of just around 16% here. I guess, first, just talk to us about what's driving demand and what are you seeing from a global recovery standpoint.

MIKE HENRY: Well, look, thanks for having me on. In terms of the-- what's driving demand, first of all, healthy recovery underway in China-- they were, obviously, came-- that economic recovery came more quickly than many expected. And in more recent months, we're seeing an acceleration of the recovery elsewhere as well. And for a company like BHP, the health of the global economy is everything.

ADAM SHAPIRO: There's a lot to talk to you about. There's coal and issues with China. But I want to jump to the future and, specifically, nickel sulfate. I don't really understand what the stuff is. But I know it's crucial to lithium-ion batteries. And we talk a lot about EV and Ford, for instance-- all electric in Europe by 2030. I got to imagine your growth plans are back on track for nickel sulfate.

MIKE HENRY: They absolutely are. So this is a very positive story. BHP is one of the world's biggest producers of what's called Class 1 nickel, which is the nickel that lends itself well to battery production. Nickel sulfate is an intermediate product where-- which is used for battery precursor. And we're in the process of building our first nickel sulfate plant in Western Australia right now.

SEANA SMITH: Mike, when you take a look, you mentioned the strength coming out of China. But I'm curious just what you're seeing in other parts of the world because I think there is some concern that many of the other countries are lagging pretty far behind. Is that the read that you're getting when you're looking at the demand that you're seeing from specific countries?