BHP Billiton chief Andrew Mackenzie flags more cuts Andrew Mackenzie took over as BHP boss last week. Newly appointed BHP Billiton boss Andrew Mackenzie has used his first major investor presentation as chief executive to announce significant cuts to its capital and exploration spend, emphasising the mining giant's productivity drive in a further sign of the slowdown in the sector. Speaking at an industry conference in Barcelona, Spain, Mr Mackenzie said the miner would slash capital and exploration spend to $US18 billion for the next financial year, down 18 per cent on the $US22 billion expenditure the previous year. "You will recognise my passion for our productivity agenda and this extends to our development projects,"" he said. ""Put simply, we must challenge ourselves to increase returns from new investment, in the same way that we need to squeeze returns from our already installed infrastructure."" Mr Mackenzie, 56, took over last week as chief executive from Marius Kloppers, amid a changing of the guard at the world's biggest mining companies as record commodity prices waned. Mr Mackenzie flagged in February that he will drive an ""agenda of productivity"" before BHP unveiled $1.9 billion in cost savings when reporting a 58 per cent decline in first-half earnings. ""The rate of spend is expected to decline substantially"" after 2014, Mr Mackenzie said today. BHP shares rose 0.4 per cent to $34.67 at the close of trade. The company estimates it will spend $22 billion on projects and exploration this fiscal year after a record $22.7 billion in fiscal 2012, according to Mackenzie's presentation. Mr Mackenzie said the global economy continues to strengthen, despite broader imbalances and underlying volatility. He said global growth is expected to underpin commodities demand with China well placed to sustain its growth trajectory and the United States economy gaining momentum. He said the risk of persistent oversupply for BHP's major products, including iron ore, has been overstated, particularly as industry-wide project approval rates have slowed.