Rio Tinto shares fall as weather impacts iron ore shipments

Published 16/04/2025, 07:06
Rio Tinto shares fall as weather impacts iron ore shipments

Investing.com - Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) shares dropped 2.5% on Wednesday after the mining giant reported its first quarter 2025 production results, indicating that extreme weather events had impacted its Pilbara iron ore operations.

The company said Pilbara iron ore shipments are expected to be at the lower end of guidance due to losses sustained from four cyclones in Q1, estimated at around 13 million tonnes.

Rio Tinto plans to mitigate approximately half of this impact through additional investments of about A$150 million for rectification works and contracted mining activities.

Despite the setback in iron ore, Rio Tinto reported strong performance in other segments. The Oyu Tolgoi copper mine achieved record production in March, aligning with the company’s underground mine ramp-up plan.

Additionally, bauxite operations hit record first quarter production and a monthly production record in March.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm stated, "We continued to see strong operational improvement with the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine and our bauxite operations delivering record months for production in March."

"Production was affected, however, by extreme weather events that impacted our Pilbara iron ore operations," Stausholm added.

The company maintained its 2025 production guidance across all segments, although it noted that Pilbara iron ore shipments would likely be at the lower end of the range. Unit cost guidance remained unchanged, based on current parameters.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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