Rio Tinto Annual Iron Ore Shipments Rise
January 16 2017 - 5:27PM
Dow Jones News
By Rhiannon Hoyle
SYDNEY--Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.AU) exported more cargoes of iron ore
in 2016 as it continued to ratchet up production from a recently
expanded network of mines in a remote part of Australia.
The Anglo-Australian company on Tuesday reported iron-ore
shipments of 327.6 million metric tons from its Western Australia
mining operations during the year, up 3% on 2015. That was in line
with a company projection in October that it would ship between 325
million and 330 million tons from Australia in 2016.
Miners including Rio Tinto and Anglo-Australian rival BHP
Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) poured billions of dollars into massive
expansions of their Australian mining operations over the past
decade as China's economy grew rapidly, demanding greater volumes
of the steelmaking ingredient for skyscrapers, bridges and other
infrastructure.
Now, three in every five tons of iron ore traded by sea come
from Australia's vast Pilbara region. Rio Tinto and BHP are the
world's No. 2 and No. 3 exporters of iron ore, respectively.
Brazil's Vale SA is the largest global supplier.
Rio Tinto stuck to an earlier forecast that shipments from
Australia should increase to between 330 million and 340 million
tons this year, higher than 2016 but lower than once anticipated
because of delays to an autonomous railway project.
The company said it will continue in the year ahead to advance
its AutoHaul project that will see driverless trains snake from
mine to port through the Pilbara, but with a driver remaining on
board until it is satisfied the system is safe and reliable.
Rio Tinto also has a majority stake in an iron-ore operation in
Canada, Iron Ore Company of Canada, where its share of output in
2016 increased 3% on-year to 10.7 million tons.
Iron ore prices have steadied around US$80 a ton, down from a
peak around US$190 a ton in 2011, in the heady days of the mining
boom, but up from as low as US$37 a little over a year ago. At the
same time, Rio Tinto has been doubling down on its push to cut
costs in the business that has included increasing utilization of
trucks and plant and reworking deals with suppliers.
Chief Executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said Rio Tinto's focus in
2017 will remain on productivity and cost reduction. "This will
ensure that we continue to deliver value for our shareholders," he
said.
The miner said on Tuesday that full-year production of other
commodities including copper and coal, two other important
commodities for company earnings, were mostly higher.
Annual production of copper was up 4% at 523,300 tons, although
this missed prior guidance partly due to lower-than-expected
volumes from its Kennecott mine in the U.S. state of Utah. Hard
coking coal output was up 4% on-year, at 8.1 million tons.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 16, 2017 17:12 ET (22:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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