UK-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto shipped 84.5mn t of iron ore in July-September, up by a slight 1pc compared with a year earlier.
The firm maintained its guidance for iron ore shipments from its Western Australia (WA) mines at 323mn-338mn t for 2024 on a 100pc basis, but lowered its equity guidance for output from the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) to 9.1mn-9.6mnt from 9.8mn-11.5mn t previously.
IOC production totalled 2.1mn t in the third quarter, 11pc lower than a year earlier because of an 11-day sitewide shutdown caused by wildfires in July. This resulted in a revised mine plan and maintenance schedule, Rio Tinto said.
Low-grade SP10 iron ore made up 19pc of the company's WA shipments during July-September, 2pc higher than in the first half of 2024. SP10 levels are expected to remain elevated until replacement projects are delivered, which is subject to approvals and heritage clearance, it said.
The firm's Chinese portside sales rose to 20.4mn t in January-September from 17.5mn t in the same period of 2023. Around 90pc of this year's portside sales were either screened or blended in Chinese ports, up by 3pc from a year earlier.
Rio Tinto's realised average iron ore price was $99/dry metric tonne (dmt) during July-September, down by 11pc on the second quarter.
The company maintained its Pilbara cash operating cost guidance at $21.75-23.50/t for 2024, based on an Australian-US dollar exchange rate of 0.66.
The Argus ICX iron ore index was assessed at $105.70/dry metric tonne (dmt) cfr Qingdao on a 62pc Fe basis on 15 October, up from $92.55/dmt on 16 September. Argus assessed the 58pc Fe fines price at $92.85/dmt on 15 October, up from $79.30/dmt on 16 September.
