MELBOURNE, Nov 27 Reuters - BHP Billiton, the global miner, painted a gloomy near-term outlook for metals demand on Thursday as it defended its decision to drop a $66bn bid for rival Rio Tinto.
BHP, facing its shareholders for the first time since walking away from the Rio bid on Tuesday, told its Australian annual meeting that uncertainty in commodities markets would continue in the short term and it was ready to close loss-making operations.
