BHP Billiton Chairman Don Argus told the company's annual general meeting in Sydney that strong demand growth in the United States and China had flow-on effects on the rest of the world.

"Europe, Japan and Asia have all been beneficiaries of the improvement in global trade, while commodity-producing nations have benefited from stronger prices," Argus said.

He said indicators had more recently pointed to an easing in growth across the world as monetary and fiscal policies were tightened.

As well, there were indications of a slowing in economic activity in China from the frenetic pace of earlier in the year, while high oil prices would affect spending throughout the world.

"Nevertheless, providing countries can successfully manage these headwinds, a growing global economy, in particular the ongoing development of China, India and other key emerging economies, continues to support the near term outlook for commodities," he said.