Rio Tinto’s fourth-quarter global iron-ore production output was down 18% on the fourth quarter output for 2007, which was “in line with expectations”, CEO Tom Albanese said on Thursday.
This followed a 10% reduction in output at the Pilbara operations announced by the miner in November.
The Pilbara mine, in Australia, produced 175-million tons of iron-ore in the year, which was a 7% increase on the year before. Its iron-ore shipments also increased by 7% year-on-year to 171-million tons.
The company announced year-on-year production increases as follows: Bauxite production up 19%, alumina output up 26%, aluminium production up 21%, uranium production up 20% - owing to higher grades - hard coking coal from Australia up 40% and thermal coal output from Australia up 21%.
Copper output declined by 18% year-on-year, owing to a grade decline and operational difficulties at the miner’s Escondida operation, in Chile.
The miner said in a statement that the group’s earnings for the fourth quarter would be negatively impacted on by the “sharp” decline in the aluminium price, while provisional copper pricing was expected to reduce the group’s underlying earnings by about $360-million for the second half of 2008.
Rio Tinto releases its preliminary full-year results next month and said it would, during January and February, make further announcements regarding its capital expenditure reductions in line with the group’s plans to reduce its net debt by $10-billion by the end of this year and to reduce its capital expenditure to “sustaining levels” by 2010, in response to the current market conditions.
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