BHP Billiton’s incoming CEO, Marius Kloppers, said the company wanted to increase production across a range of raw materials by 10% per year to meet rising demand from China, the world’s largest buyer of raw materials, the Shanghai Daily reported. Kloppers was speaking as BHP said Tuesday booming demand from China and elsewhere had pushed the company’s production of key commodities to record levels in the year to June 30, raising expectations of full-year profits to between US$13.5 billion and more than US$14 billion. The company achieved annual output records for natural gas, alumina, aluminum, copper, nickel, iron ore, manganese and coking coal. Annual production of thermal coal, diamonds and manganese alloy also rose. BHP Billiton has committed US$1.85 billion to boost annual output at its iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to 155 million tons, and last month said it would look at boosting this to 300 million tons a year by as soon as 2013 in response to strong demand from Chinese steelmakers. China is the world’s largest consumer of steel and copper.