Rio Tinto has posted a strong second quarter result at its Pilbara iron ore operations, with the miner now forecasting it will hit the top end of its annual guidance.
Rio said it shipped 88.5 million tonnes in the June quarter, up 14 per cent on the same period last year, due to better weather and improved productivity.
The company said shipments in 2018 were expected to be at the upper end of the 330mt to 340mt guidance.
“Shipments are expected to be more evenly distributed between the first and second halves compared to prior years, when shipments have typically been skewed to the second half following seasonal disruption in the first half,” Rio said.
Iron ore production was 85.5mt for the quarter, a 7 per cent increase on last year.
The company has shipped 168.8mt in the first half of 2018, which represents a 9 per cent uptick comparative to 2017.
Half-year production was 7 per cent higher than last year at 168.7mt.
“Operational performance was solid across most commodities, rounding out a strong first half performance for the group,” chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said.
“Our increasingly flexible Pilbara iron ore system continued to perform well.”
Average pricing in the first half of 2018 was $57.9 per wet metric tonne, which compares to $59.6/wmt last year.
Across its other operations, bauxite production of 13.3mt was 3 per cent higher than last year, while aluminium output was slightly down on 2017 at 0.9mt.
Copper production was up 26 per cent at 156,800 tonnes on the back of strong production at the Escondida mine in Chile.
“Our bauxite and copper businesses also delivered strong operating results, demonstrating the success of our ongoing mine-to-market productivity programme, which is increasingly important in an environment of rising cost inflation,” Mr Jacques said.
“Our sustained focus on cash generation, combined with disciplined capital allocation, will ensure we continue to deliver superior returns to our shareholders across the short, medium and long term.”
Shares in Rio were down 0.45 per cent at $79.05 each at 12.23pm AEDT.