BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie is predicting another ten years of the global oversupply of mining commodities, but his company is in a better position than its competitors to ride it out.

After Mr. Mackenzie delivered a speech on free trade and economic growth on Monday night at the Asia Society in New York City, a hedge fund manager asked him about the future of world commodity markets - when will the recovery happen?

"We've had such a long boom that to work that through, in my view, it may take another ten years," replied Mr. Mackenzie, as quoted by the Australian Financial Review.  He added that the supply of crude oil and copper would decline naturally, and commodity prices such as iron ore had "settled down to a price that we would say is more realistic on the fundamentals of supply and demand."

"One of the markets that will take longest to come back into balance is the iron ore market," he said, saying it would come after crude and copper.

Asked about the Chinese  government, Mr. Mackenzie also suggested that Beijing's mini-stimulus of its steel sector early this year may be motivated by politics as much as economics.  Next year, the Chinese Communist party holds its congress to determine if the current regime gets to stay in office for another five years, and it could be that Chinese President "Xi Jinping is looking as to whether they can get another five years". 

"To paraphrase Bill Clinton 'it's the economy stupid'," Mr Mackenzie added.