falling share price, page-12

what fmg have done realy well is build quality port and rail infrastructure. bhp's rail line is upgraded in stages every so often and its a bit patchwork. having that new rail track would be good for them. the port at anderson point would be a good addition, and save bhp building an out-of-harbour facility at hedland. twiggy had the news-worthy idea of looping the lines, however this wouldn't work with different companies owning them due to a problem called assymetric wear. the empty trains cause a lot less damage then the full ones. with one company owning both tracks this just becomes a maintenance issue.

its been said before - iron ore is steasy, steady, and starting up in a boom is fine so long as you can make it through the lean. rio and bhp have probably gone through 6 or 8 cycles, and like most new entrants this is twiggies first. if he can fund debt and working capital he'll make it, if he doesn't he's toast.

one things for sure, bhp would love that pilbara infrastructure. he's orebodies are sadly just a bag of rusty nails, as chip goodyear stood up and said in 2005.