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“BHP understands that an entity’s own procurement practices can apply downward pressure on suppliers, which could lead to an increased risk of modern slavery practices, for example, unfair pricing or unmanageable lead times. To appropriately manage delivery lead time expectations, we take a planned approach to sourcing, inventory, warehousing and logistics management, underpinned by continuous process improvement. The reference performance metrics that guide our supplier contracts encompass a range of factors beyond financial and delivery performance, including social value (e.g. safety, inclusion and diversity, and local employment).

In FY2022, we also reduced our payment terms to seven days for all small, local and Indigenous businesses globally, to alleviate downward cashflow pressure on these suppliers. This change benefits approximately 6,000 (67 per cent) of active BHP vendors in the key operating regions of Australia, Chile, the United States, Canada, Mexico and (prior to the merger of the Petroleum business with Woodside) Trinidad and Tobago.”