RIO TINTO INCREASES PRODUCTION OF IRON ORE

Rio Tinto produced and shipped more iron ore in the first quarter, despite lower commodity prices, and forecast a similar rise this year.

Rio produced 84mt of ore and shipped 81mt, up 13% and 11% respectively against the same period a year ago.

But that was down 4% and 12% respectively against the fourth quarter last year, with the fall in shipments due to bad weather and exhausted stockpiles.

It said the year-on-year rise in shipments was due to the completion of some brownfield developments and expanded plant in Australia’s Pilbara in 2015.

Production from the Pilbara is now expected to be between 330mt and 340mt in 2017 against 350mt beforehand, subject to final productivity and capital spending plans.

The global miner kept its 2016/17 guidance for ore shipments from Australia and Canada unchanged at about 350 million tonnes (mt).