Rio Tinto iron ore shipments dip 8% y-o-y in Q1CY22, guidance intact

The world's leading iron ore miner, Rio Tinto, recorded iron ore shipments at 71.5 million tonnes (mnt) for Q1CY'22, which is down by 8% y-o-y as compared to 77.8 mnt in Q1CY21. The shipments, on a quarterly basis, decreased against 84.1 mnt in Q4CY21.

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 6% in Q1CY22

The total iron ore production marked a 6% fall to 71.7 mnt in Q1CY22 as against 76.4 mnt in Q1CY21. This was due to increased Covid-19 cases on site in Pilbara following the Western Australian border re-opening and spikes in cases across other operations.

IOC pellet production up in Q4

The Iron Ore Company of Canada's (IOC's) iron ore pellet and concentrate production in Q1CY22 were recorded at 2.4 mnt, up by 3% y-o-y, which was impacted by mine feed constraints. There is good progress on the initiation of Rio Tinto Safe Production System (RTSPS) at the concentrator.

On a quarterly basis, output decreased by 4% as compared to 2.5 mnt in Q4CY21.
IOC is a joint venture between Rio Tinto, Mitsubishi and the Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Corp.

Key updates

• The company's Pilbara iron ore shipment guidance for CY22 remains stable at 320-335 mnt. 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 CY22 also remains unchanged at 10-11 mnt.