It has been a tough year for iron ore producers, but BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) has been holding up well. However, as we move deeper into the downturn, the world's biggest miner will also be forced to take drastic steps.

BHP Billiton is a diversified miner with exposure to a number of commodities such as iron-ore, copper, coal, petroleum and potash mining. But the company typically gets more than half of its earnings from iron ore business.

BHP Billiton, like its peers, has seen its earnings decline significantly in the downturn to multi-year lows. In its annual results released back in August, the company's underlying attributable profit plunged 51.6% to $6.42 billion - the lowest in more than ten years, thanks to the weak pricing environment for all commodities in general and iron-ore in particular. The red metal plunged to 10-year lows of $38.30 per dry ton in the second week of December. The weakness in due in part to soft demand from China and growing supplies from major producers, particularly BHP Billiton Vale

• [Editor:Sophie]