The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is in the red today amid the iron ore price dropping.
BHP shares are sliding 1.42% to $43.18 at the time of writing. For perspective, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 0.49% today.
So what is going on with the BHP share price?
Iron ore price slides
BHP shares may be falling, but it is not the only iron ore producer slipping on the market today. Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) shares are down 1.67%, while the Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price is sliding 2.37%.
BHP shares could be dipping on the back of the iron ore price dropping. Iron ore (62% Fe) is currently down 2.18% to US$97.8 on the Singapore Exchange.
ANZ pacific economist Kishti Sen said iron ore has extended recent losses amid "ongoing concerns of weakening steel demand". He added:
Futures on the Singapore Exchange fell back below USD100/t as China's property and infrastructure sectors have performed worse than expected.
The concerns were sparked last week when growth of industrial output and fixed asset investment slowed in April.
BHP has recently been hitting headlines regarding the Federal Government's "same job, same pay" policy.
The mining giant fears the planned legislation could cost $1.3 billion a year, equivalent to 5,000 full-time employees.
Meanwhile, BHP's Nickel West president Jessica Farrell has reflected on the impact of the United States Inflation Reduction Act on the company's customers.
Commenting at the Australian Financial Review Mining summit in Perth, she said:
We're already seeing our customers make different decisions through their supply chain. We've now got direct partnerships with OEMs.
They want to secure the raw materials and … they're making decisions about where those raw materials – and what processing areas they invest in.
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, includes billions of spending for clean energy measures including electric vehicle (EV) and battery supply chain incentives.
BHP's Nickel West is expecting to produce 75 to 85 kt of nickel in FY23 and had produced 58 kt in the year to date up to March.
As for iron ore, BHP had produced 191.7 million tonnes of the commodity up to March 2023 and forecasts it will deliver between 249 and 260 mt in FY23.
BHP share price snapshot
The BHP share price has descended nearly 10% in the last year.
BHP has a market capitalisation of about nearly $219 billion based on the latest share price.
