Copper, Critical minerals, Iron ore, News, Quarterly and half yearly results, Rio Tinto

Rio releases fourth quarter results

The major miner has published a report based on a global audit of its Cultural Heritage Management compliance and performance.

Iron ore was a central player in the major’s latest report, with the mining giant shipping 87.3 million tonnes from its Western Australian mines during the December quarter.

The results were a four per cent increase from the same time last year, slightly ahead of market expectations.

The final three months of 2022 saw the beginning of the end of China’s zero-Covid policy, and Rio Tinto said the resulting improving market conditions sent  iron ore prices 22 per cent higher.

However, the coming months will likely bring “high volatility”, the company added, as China faces a growing wave of COVID-19 cases.

“Steel demand recovery hinges on the country’s ability to control the COVID outbreak,” Rio Tinto said.
The value of local iron ore production, which typically ranks as Australia’s most valuable export, hit an all-time high of more than $150 billion in 2021.
But a global energy crisis and geopolitical instability as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have seen coal overtake iron ore as Australia’s top export earner. At the same time, outbreaks of COVID-19 across 2022 and a property market slowdown in China, the world’s biggest producer of steel, have weakened demand for iron ore.

Goldman Sachs analyst Paul Young said expectations that a post-lockdown demand boost from Chinese steel mills had pushed benchmark iron ore prices back as high as $US120 a tonne.

“We believe the rally over the past few months to $US115–120 a tonne has been driven mostly by the expectation for a China reopening, and also lower-than-expected 2023 production and shipments guidance from the iron ore majors,” Young said.

Some of Rio’s 2022 operational highlights and other key announcements:

  • Prioritising the safety, health and wellbeing of its workforce and communities after experiencing the fourth consecutive year with no fatalities at managed operations
  • Pilbara operations produced 324.1 million tonnes, one per cent higher than 2021
  • Bauxite production of 54.6 million tonnes was one per cent higher than 2021
  • Mined copper production of 521,000 tonnes was six per cent higher than 2021
  • December saw the completion of the acquisition of Turquoise Hill Resources.
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