Australia-based Rio Tinto, the world's second biggest iron ore producer, has announced that in the third quarter of the current year iron ore production from its Pilbara operations in Western Australia decreased by three percent year on year to 82.5 million mt. In the given quarter, the company's iron ore shipments from its Pilbara operations amounted to 81.9 million mt, falling by five percent from the same quarter of the previous year, due to planned maintenance cycles and safety pauses across all operations following the fatality a security contractor.
In the first nine months of the year, Rio Tinto produced 251.2 million mt from its Pilbara operations, rising by four percent, while its iron ore shipments increased by four percent to 250.7 million mt, both compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Rio Tinto expects its Pilbara iron ore shipments in the current year to be at the upper end of the existing guidance range of 330 million mt to 340 million mt.
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto's Australian hard coking coal production in the third quarter declined by 68 percent to 712,000 mt compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. In the January-September period, Rio Tinto’s hard coking coal production amounted to 3.98 million mt, down 26 percent year on year. The company revised its hard coking coal production guidance down to 4 million mt for 2018.