Australia-based miner Rio Tinto, the world’s second biggest iron ore producer, has announced that in the first quarter of the current year iron ore production from its Pilbara operations in Western Australia decreased by two percent year on year to 76.4 million mt, driven by above average wet weather at mines through February. In the given quarter, the company’s iron ore shipments from its Pilbara operations amounted to 77.8 million mt, rising by seven percent from the same quarter of the previous year.
According to Rio Tinto, labour resource availability and weather challenges disrupted maintenance. Tropical Cyclone Seroja impacted mine and port operations in April.
Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore shipment guidance for 2021 remains unchanged at 325-340 million mt, compared to the previous guidance.
“We achieved an overall solid operating performance in the first quarter. We have maintained guidance ranges in all our products, with site teams successfully managing the effects of significant rainfall, in particular at our Australian iron ore assets,” Jakob Stausholm, Rio Tinto chief executive, said.
