Rio shipped 77.8 million tonnes of iron ore in the three months to March 31,its quarterly review said on Tuesday,as Chinese industrial activity drove greater demand and global economic growth continued to rebound.
However,iron ore production volume fell 2 per cent year-on-year to 76.4 million tonnes as above-average rainfall across Western Australia and labour shortages affected mine and port operations,Rio said.
“A mediocre quarter from Rio Tinto,” said Tyler Broda,a London-based analyst with the Royal Bank of Canada. “Some mixed weather in February and challenges in plant reliability drove a 6 per cent miss to our iron ore production forecasts.”
The miner’s quarterly shipments,meanwhile,were largely in line with analysts’ expectations,and have placed it on track to deliver its full-year target of between 325 million and 340 million tonnes at a time when the price of iron ore has surged to a 10-year high of around $US180 a tonne.
Mr Stausholm said the miner had achieved an “overall solid” operating performance in the first quarter and had successfully managed the effects of significant rainfall across its iron ore assets in WA’s Pilbara.
During 2020,iron ore accounted for $120 billion in export earnings – the first of any Australian export to top the $100 billion mark.
But Mr Stausholm added that the period had also been one of “deep reflection” for Rio Tinto as it continued facing the fallout of its disastrous decision last year toblow up the 46,000-year-old Aboriginal rock shelters at WA’s Juukan Gorge to make way for a mine expansion against the wishes of the land’s traditional owners.