Rio Tinto avoids iron ore selloff as Q2 shipments beat estimates
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More news: Rio Tinto evaded a selloff in iron ore stocks after the miner reported an uplift in production for the second quarter.
Rio shares edged down 0.1% to $110.16 at 11am AEST, as rivals BHP (-1.1%) and Fortescue (-1%) experienced sharp declines.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker noted that Rio expects titanium dioxide and iron ore shipments to be at the lower end of full-year guidance, with bauxite and copper at the higher end.
Pilbara iron ore shipments missed market estimates by 2%, Peker said, while copper beat consensus forecasts by 13%.
Rio Tinto Q2 copper output surged 13%, iron ore hit seven-year record
The news: Rio Tinto has reported a year-on-year increase in copper production in the second quarter of 2025 as the company scales output from its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia with the aim to become the world’s fourth largest copper mine by 2030.
The numbers: Copper equivalent production hit 229 kilotonnes. This represents an increase of 13% in Q2 year-on-year, and 6% year-on-year for the half-year.
For the full-year, copper production is expected to be at the higher end of the guidance range while unit costs are expected at the lower end.
Pilbara iron ore production in Q2 reached 83.7 megatonnes, the highest production level for the quarter since 2018. This is a 20% increase on Q1 when production was affected by extreme weather.
Bauxite production in Q2 came in at 15.6 megatonnes, a second consecutive quarterly production record with full year production expected to come in at the higher end of the guidance range.
The context: Rio Tinto told the exchange that its copper business is performing strongly and was complemented by the acquisition of US-based miner Arcadium.
The diversified miner also said the company benefitted from an improved global economy in Q2 compared to Q1 “given US/China tariff de-escalation” but noted that “geopolitical tensions and trade barriers remain near-term economic risks.
While building activities in the US are under pressure from “elevated mortgage rates and reduced labour supply”, Rio Tinto highlighted strong growth in Chinese industrial activity and net exports as “trade diversification continued as the decline in exports to the US was more than offset by shipments to other regions”.
What they said: “We continue to make strong progress in our production and growth projects, achieving our highest Pilbara Q2 production since 2018 and accelerating the first shipment from the Simandou high-grade iron ore project in Guinea,” outgoing Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm said.
The source: ASX
