Supply chain

Overview

Our success depends on sustainable supply - the ability of our partners to deliver what our operations need, when it is required, and to our rigorous quality standards.

With well over 36,000 suppliers globally, we use our considerable influence to ensure that the goods and services which we procure comply with the group's overarching principles of good governance, safety and sustainable development.

The way we buy

In 2006, we published our commercial business practices policy, The way we buy. This policy reflects how our corporate philosophy meets the operating demands of our business units, while ensuring that we conduct our procurement in a manner that is holistic, transparent and sustainable.

To pre-qualify as a supplier, business partners generally must be able to demonstrate strong organisational commitments to:

• corporate governance
• improved health and safety
• human rights and labour practices
• socio-economic welfare of local/indigenous communities
• natural resource conservation and management
• carbon and greenhouse gas emission reduction
• energy and fuel efficiency
• waste minimisation

By collaborating with our partners to obtain sustainable development objectives for each our business units, we seek to build the confidence of our partner communities in our reputation, and extend our licence to operate.
 
To learn more about Sustainable Supply, or to register to become one of our suppliers, please visit our Procurement website.

Our results

In 2006, our demand for materials, facilities and services was equivalent to US$11 billion, or 43 per cent of our Group's sales revenue. Twenty two per cent of these materials, facilities and services were procured locally. Due to the diversity of our operations, volumes of the materials that we used are not relevant at a Group level.