Rio Tinto aims for ‘upper half’ of iron ore target
Rio Tinto’s iron ore division has achieved its most productive first-half in five years, putting the miner on track for delivering at the top end of its guidance range.
Rio chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the miner was now targeting the “upper half” of the range promised in January, when the miner vowed to ship between 320 million and 335 million tonnes of Australian iron ore in 2023.
The upbeat pledge was made despite a train derailment ensuring Rio’s iron ore exports over the past three months were relatively soft – and weaker than the same time last year – at 79.1 million tonnes.
Analyst consensus measured by VUMA had pointed to Rio shipping 81.76 million tonnes in the June quarter, although UBS was closer to the mark, at 79 million tonnes. It is the second year in a row that train derailments have struck Rio’s iron ore output.
But Rio could afford a softer quarter on the back of a very strong first three months to the year, shipping 161.6 million tonnes in the first half. That was more than 6 per cent better than the volume achieved in the first half of last year, and was Rio’s best first-half performance since 2018.
Rio said the new Gudai Darri iron ore mine was running at full speed, in an important milestone for the company.
But there were downgrades in some of Rio’s lesser divisions, including the Australian alumina division, where the maximum output this year has been downgraded from 8 million tonnes to 7.7 million tonnes.
Refined copper volumes will also be lower than previously expected because of extended works at the Kennecott mine in the United States, while Rio’s Canadian iron ore business also suffered downgraded export guidance.
Rio will report half-year results on July 26, and is expected to post a
Read more on afr.com
