Rio Tinto 2Q Iron Ore Shipments Rise; Copper Cost Guidance Lowered — 2nd Update

By Rhiannon Hoyle

Rio Tinto reported a 7% rise in second-quarter iron-ore sales from its Australian mining operations to the highest since 2020, while reducing annual cost guidance for its copper business.

The company, which is one of the world's biggest iron-ore producers and makes most of its money from sales of the steel ingredient, said it shipped 85.3 million metric tons of iron ore from its Pilbara operations in the three months through June.

Analysts expected quarterly shipments of roughly 83.4 million tons, according to consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Rio Tinto said the increased iron-ore sales, which were 18% higher than the quarter immediately prior, were "supported by strong system performance and healthy stock levels" as its operations recovered from two tropical cyclones earlier in the year.

The company reported iron-ore output from its Australian mines of 83.5 million tons, flat on the year-earlier period. Analysts expected output of roughly 82.7 million tons, according Visible Alpha.

"In the Pilbara, we achieved our highest first-half iron ore production since we set a record in 2018, through the successful implementation of our ongoing productivity improvement program," said Chief Executive Simon Trott.

Rio Tinto also owns iron-ore operations in Canada, and is ramping up the Simandou iron-ore project in Guinea. Global iron-ore sales totaled 88.8 million tons in the second quarter, up 5% year over year.

Across the company, copper-equivalent production increased by 3% in the first half, Trott said.

The company's shares were 1.5% higher by early afternoon in Sydney. Citi analyst Ephrem Ravi said that "the operating resilience in iron ore [and] cost tailwinds in copper" were key positives from the result.

In its copper business, Rio Tinto benefited from sustained strength in the price of gold, a byproduct of mining the industrial metal.

As a result of higher gold prices and productivity gains, Rio Tinto said it now expects so-called C1 net unit costs of producing copper to be between 30-50 U.S. cents per pound in 2026. It earlier estimated annual costs of between 65-75 U.S. cents a pound.

Rio Tinto reported second-quarter copper output of 213,000 tons, down 7% both on the quarter immediately prior and the year-earlier period.

The company reported an unplanned outage at its Kennecott smelter near Salt Lake City, Utah. It said there was a breach at the flash smelting furnace there that would take about 75 days to fix, and that it will produce less refined metal in the second half of the year as a result.

Rio Tinto reaffirmed that there have been limited direct impacts on its operations from the Middle East conflict to date, although said higher diesel prices added to iron-ore mining costs in the first half.

The miner said diesel prices increased from roughly $85 a barrel to about $140 a barrel during the period. That resulted in a roughly 80 cent-a-ton increase in first-half unit costs year over year, it said.

Rio Tinto reiterated annual iron-ore cost guidance of between $23.50 and $25.00 a ton.

"Conditions in the Strait of Hormuz remain highly volatile," the company said. "We continue to monitor developments closely and maintain contingency plans to address potential escalation or further disruption to global energy and logistics markets."

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 14, 2026 23:58 ET (03:58 GMT)