Commenting on the second quarter’s production results, chief executive Tom Albanese said: "These strong results show that we are continuing to expand to meet rapid demand growth in the developing world. We have set quarterly production records for iron ore, mined copper and alumina, thanks to increasing investment in growth projects and a management commitment to deliver more tonnes faster, while maintaining our focus on safety and costs.
“The integration of Alcan is proceeding to plan and the business continues to perform well. I am particularly pleased to see how swiftly our Australian coal operations recovered from the first quarter floods.
“Chinese GDP is continuing to grow at around ten per cent per annum, demand is strong while supply remains constrained. Fundamentals, not financial speculation, are driving the record prices we are realising across aluminium, copper, iron ore and coal and we see the same trends continuing into the future.”
• Record quarterly global production of iron ore, up 13 per cent on the second quarter of 2007, recovering some of the shortfall from the cyclones in the first quarter.
• Record quarterly iron ore production of 48 million tonnes in Australia, up 14 per cent (on a 100 per cent basis) compared with the second quarter of 2007, as the iron ore operations continue to expand their capacity.
• Weighted average iron ore price increase of 85.7 per cent negotiated with Asian customers for 2008 contract shipments from the Pilbara.
• Record quarterly mined copper production (for existing operations), up 15 per cent on the corresponding quarter of 2007.
• Rio Tinto Alcan continues to perform well with bauxite production up 100 per cent, alumina up by 231 per cent and aluminium up by 374 per cent, compared with the second quarter of 2007, reflecting the acquisition of Alcan in the fourth quarter of 2007. On a proforma basis the respective increases for bauxite, alumina and aluminium were 11 per cent, nine per cent and one per cent.
• The Sohar aluminium smelter in Oman began operating in June, on time and on budget, with first hot metal produced during the same month.
• Australian thermal and coking coal production were up by 15 per cent and 25 per cent on the second quarter of 2007, recovering well from the heavy rainfall experienced in the first quarter.
• Strong performance from the minerals businesses with borates production up 18 per cent and titanium dioxide feedstocks ten per cent higher than the second quarter of 2007.
• Agreement signed to sell the Kintyre uranium property in Western Australia for $495 million, as part of the Group’s overall $15 billion divestment target.
All currency figures in this report are US dollars, and comments refer to Rio Tinto’s share, unless otherwise stated
“The integration of Alcan is proceeding to plan and the business continues to perform well. I am particularly pleased to see how swiftly our Australian coal operations recovered from the first quarter floods.
“Chinese GDP is continuing to grow at around ten per cent per annum, demand is strong while supply remains constrained. Fundamentals, not financial speculation, are driving the record prices we are realising across aluminium, copper, iron ore and coal and we see the same trends continuing into the future.”
• Record quarterly global production of iron ore, up 13 per cent on the second quarter of 2007, recovering some of the shortfall from the cyclones in the first quarter.
• Record quarterly iron ore production of 48 million tonnes in Australia, up 14 per cent (on a 100 per cent basis) compared with the second quarter of 2007, as the iron ore operations continue to expand their capacity.
• Weighted average iron ore price increase of 85.7 per cent negotiated with Asian customers for 2008 contract shipments from the Pilbara.
• Record quarterly mined copper production (for existing operations), up 15 per cent on the corresponding quarter of 2007.
• Rio Tinto Alcan continues to perform well with bauxite production up 100 per cent, alumina up by 231 per cent and aluminium up by 374 per cent, compared with the second quarter of 2007, reflecting the acquisition of Alcan in the fourth quarter of 2007. On a proforma basis the respective increases for bauxite, alumina and aluminium were 11 per cent, nine per cent and one per cent.
• The Sohar aluminium smelter in Oman began operating in June, on time and on budget, with first hot metal produced during the same month.
• Australian thermal and coking coal production were up by 15 per cent and 25 per cent on the second quarter of 2007, recovering well from the heavy rainfall experienced in the first quarter.
• Strong performance from the minerals businesses with borates production up 18 per cent and titanium dioxide feedstocks ten per cent higher than the second quarter of 2007.
• Agreement signed to sell the Kintyre uranium property in Western Australia for $495 million, as part of the Group’s overall $15 billion divestment target.
All currency figures in this report are US dollars, and comments refer to Rio Tinto’s share, unless otherwise stated
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