Rio Tinto’s full-year iron ore shipments drop on disruptions from cyclone and fire
Rio Tinto on Friday posted a 3% drop in iron ore shipments in 2019 as the Anglo-Australian miner’s operations faced disruptions due to cyclone and a fire at a port facility.
Iron ore shipped from Australia’s Pilbara region in 2019 was 327.4 million tonnes, the company said, well within its forecast of 320 million tonnes to 330 million tonnes.
The company said it made up for the disruptions in the first half by way of higher iron ore production and shipments than a year earlier. However, in the fourth-quarter, shipments of the steel-making material dipped 1% to 86.8 million tonnes.
The global miner has benefited from a jump in iron ore prices following a supply squeeze due to a fatal dam collapse in Brazil early last year. But with global production now stabilizing, the prices are off their highs.
The company expects iron ore shipments, which accounts for more than 60% of its profit, to be between 330 million tonnes and 343 million tonnes in 2020.
Rio Tinto has been shipping out higher volumes of a lower grade, 60 percent SP 10 product, as it struggles with operational bottlenecks at its new Koodaideri mine in Western Australia, from where it expects to produce ore in late 2021.
The London-based miner posted a 28% jump in bauxite production in 2019 and said it expected aluminium production to be between 3.1 million tonnes and 3.3 million tonnes in 2020.
It also set 2020 target of 530,000 to 580,000 tonnes of mined copper.
(By Nikhil Kurian Nainan and Aby Jose Koilparambil; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
source: Mining.com
Top News
Glencore in talks to sell Philippine copper smelting unit
Rasul Khalife Soltani, Secretary of the Iranian Steel Producers Association on the sidelines of the 1403 Steel Symposium:
Mobarakeh steel is producing green steel through scrap recycling
India’s record gold import said to be due to calculation error
Volkswagen buys 9.9% of Patriot Battery Metals for $48 million
Sibanye raises $500m via metals streaming deal with Franco-Nevada
Norge Mining acquires Europe’s largest natural graphite producer
Mercuria partners with Zambia on metals trading venture
Aluminum price falls to one-month low in wider commodity slump
Rio Tinto, BHP, and BlueScope to build ‘green iron’ plant
Tiny but vital metal markets rush to adjust to Chinese clampdown
Petra Diamonds cuts forecasts, jobs amid market weakness
El Salvador president proposes bill to overturn metals mining ban
China’s 2025 steel demand to fall 1.5% on year, state research institute says
Lure of Anglo’s copper mines could test BHP’s spending resolve
Copper giant Peru foresees another production plateau in 2025
Iron ore price weakens as Australia flags return to sub-$100 prices
Nickel price hits 4-year low as gloom offsets potential Indonesia cuts
Mercuria partners with Zambia on metals trading venture
Sibanye raises $500m via metals streaming deal with Franco-Nevada
Tiny but vital metal markets rush to adjust to Chinese clampdown
Petra Diamonds cuts forecasts, jobs amid market weakness
El Salvador president proposes bill to overturn metals mining ban
China’s 2025 steel demand to fall 1.5% on year, state research institute says
Lure of Anglo’s copper mines could test BHP’s spending resolve
Iron ore price weakens as Australia flags return to sub-$100 prices
Nickel price hits 4-year low as gloom offsets potential Indonesia cuts
Sibanye raises $500m via metals streaming deal with Franco-Nevada
Triple Flag to acquire royalty on Tres Quebradas lithium project