Rio Tinto lifts Q3 iron ore output

Looking ahead to fiscal 2015, Rio Tinto Rio Tinto maintained its outlook for global iron ore shipments of around 340 million tonnes from its operations in Australia and Canada.

Global miner Rio Tinto on Friday posted a 17 percent rise in third-quarter iron ore shipments to 91.3 million tonnes and said it remained on track to meet full-year guidance of 340 million tonnes.

In a sign market conditions may be improving, the miner dipped into its inventories – 4 million tonnes from its Australian operations and 1 million from the Canadian business – after production fell short of shipments.

Rio’s iron ore production had taken a hit in the first half of the year as unseasonal weather events in the Pilbara, including two cyclones, forced it to pare back is previous annual target of close to 350 million tonnes.

Over the past few years, Rio Tinto and rivals like BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, BLT.L, BHP.AX, BBL, BHPBF) and Brazil’s Vale have been increasing production of iron ore despite the fall in iron ore prices on weak demand from China.

In the quarter, Rio produced 1.86 million tonnes of hard coking coal, a 5 per cent lift on the previous corresponding period.

Hard coking coal’s production increased 5 percent, while semi-soft and thermal coal production declined 8 percent from a year ago. Year-to-date mined copper is 17 per cent lower than at the same time last year. The company’s expected share of production of bauxite and aluminium are unchanged at 43 million tonnes and 3.3 million tonnes, respectively.

“Our expanded Pilbara infrastructure is in place, and the iron ore product group is successfully commissioning and testing the system, reflected in the increased iron ore shipments to our customers during the period”, chief executive Sam Walsh said.

He added the miner’s balance sheet will be further strengthened by divestment activity.