Rio Tinto iron ore shipments dip 5% y-o-y in Q4, raises CY'22 guidance

The world's leading iron ore miner, Rio Tinto, recorded iron ore shipments at 84.1 million tonnes (mn t) for Q4CY'21, which is down by 5% y-o-y as compared to 88.9 mn t in Q4CY'20. The shipment, on a quarterly basis, increased against 83.4 mn t in Q3CY'21.

All figures mentioned are on 100% basis, which means that the shipments include material shipped from the Pilbara mines to the portside trading facility in China which may not be sold onwards by the group during the same period.

Iron ore production dips 2% in Q4CY'21

The total iron ore production marked a 2% fall to 84.1 mn t in Q4CY'21 as against 86 mn t in Q4CY'20. This was due to cultural heritage management, brownfield mine replacement tie-ins and project completion delays.

IOC pellet production down in Q4

The Iron Ore Company of Canada's (IOC's) iron ore pellet and concentrate production in Q4CY'21 were recorded at 2.5 mn t, down by 9% y-o-y. This was due prolonged labour and equipment availability issues impacting product feed and various other operational challenges faced throughout the year.

On a quarterly basis, output increased by 14% as compared to 2.2 mn t in Q3CY'21.
IOC is a joint venture between Rio Tinto, Mitsubishi and the Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Corp.

Key updates

• The company has improved its Pilbara iron ore shipment guidance for CY'22 to 320-335 mn t against 320-325 mn t earlier. The shipments guidance remains subject to risks around commissioning of new mines and management of cultural heritage, including any impacts from the recent changes to the Aboriginal Heritage Act, 1972 (WA).
  
  
• At IOC, the iron ore pellet and concentrate production guidance for CY'22 has been increased to 10-11 mn t as against the earlier 9.5-10.5 mn t.