PERTH, Australia--Rio Tinto PLC will "tightly manage" its
operations and fiscal position as it grapples with a sharp downturn
in prices for key commodities such as iron ore and coal, but has
the flexibility to weather tough markets, the miner's chairman said
Thursday.
Jan du Plessis said he expects Rio Tinto will face continuing
challenges in commodity markets in the short term, citing economic
and geopolitical uncertainty. He said divergent monetary policy
paths in Europe, the U.S. and parts of Asia was adding to an
uncertain outlook.
"We will continue to tightly manage the business and our balance
sheet in the face of the lower commodity prices we've seen so far
in 2015," he told the company's Australian annual general meeting
in Perth.
"We have the capacity to weather difficult market conditions,
fund future growth and appropriately reward shareholders," he said.
Iron-ore prices have halved in the past year as supplies of the raw
material outpaced demand.
Mr. du Plessis said investor returns would remain the core focus
of Rio Tinto, which earlier in the year announced a US$2 billion
share repurchase.
-- Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
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