Rio Tinto has lifted quarterly iron ore production and sales by 11 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, in line with market estimates.
The world’s second-largest miner produced 73.1 million tonnes for the three months to the end of June.
Rio’s iron ore shipments were 75.7 million tonnes.
The miner said it achieved record first-half iron ore shipments, production and rail volumes. It expects to ship 300 million tonnes and said its guidance of 295 million tonnes produced was unchanged.
First-half shipments were up 20 per cent to 142.4 million tonnes and production by 10 per cent to 139.5 million tonnes as it drew down inventory.
The company increased its full-year production guidance for refined copper from 260,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes, driven by higher grades and recoveries at its Kennecott Utah Copper mine in the US and the ramp-up at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia. That led to a 50 per cent increase in June quarter production to 94,600 tonnes.
Coal production was mixed. Hard coking coal production increased for the quarter by six per cent to two million tonnes while semi-soft and thermal fell seven per cent to 6.7 million tonnes. Both were higher for the half.
First-half and quarterly aluminium production was in line with last year, with productivity gains across the smelter portfolio offsetting the loss of production from the closure of Shawinigan in Canada last November.
Rio spent less on exploration and evaluation, which declined from $542 million in the first half of 2013 to $340 million this year.
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It did not provide any comments in its quarterly production report about the iron ore market and how far the prices it gets for its products had fallen following a drop of about 30 per cent in the commodity’s spot price this year.
Iron ore has represented about 90 per cent of the company’s earnings for the last three years.
Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh said the company had achieved another half of very strong operating performance, powered by productivity gains across the business.
“With a relentless focus on achieving sustainable cost-savings while delivering the highest-quality growth, we continue to transform Rio Tinto into a stronger, more disciplined business that will consistently deliver strong cashflows and shareholder value,” he said.
