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(Sharecast News) - Rio Tinto reaffirmed its annual production guidance on Wednesday, following a strong performance at its Pilbara iron ore mines.
Updating on second-quarter production, the Anglo-Australian miner said global iron ore sales were up 5% year-on-year at 88.8m tonnes, supported by a 7% rise in Pilbara sales.
Simon Trott, chief executive, said the Pilbara mines in Western Australia had seen the highest first-half iron ore production since 2018 following the successful implementation of its ongoing productivity improvement programme. A total of 85.3m tonnes of the steel-making commodity were sold from the Pilbara operations, ahead of forecasts for around 83.6m tonnes.
Copper production fell 7% year-on-year in the quarter to 213,000 tones, though it was up 1% over the half year. The ramp-up of the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia - one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in the world - was "on track", Rio Tinto added.
As a result, production and sales guidance for the full year was reaffirmed. Pilbara iron ore unit cash cost forecasts were also unchanged, although the blue chip did flag higher diesel prices.
Copper net unit costs were reduced to 30 to 50cents per pound, from a previous range of 65 to 75cents, due to higher-than-expected gold prices and productivity improvements.
Trott said: "We are delivering growth as we drive performance across the group. Our scale, geographical diversification and sophisticated supply chains continue to underpin our resilience and strong operational performance despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty throughout the period."
Rio Tinto noted that operational impacts of war in the Middle East "remain limited", with no material disruption to either production or outbound supply chains across its core commodities.
But it acknowledged: "Conditions in the Strait of Hormuz remain highly volatile. We continue to monitor developments closely, and maintain contingency plans to address potential escalation or further disruption to global energy and logistics markets."
As at 1045 BST, Rio Tinto's London-listed shares were largely unchanged at 6,924p, while in Sydney they closed up 1%.