Rio Tinto has reported an 11% growth in global iron ore production and also iron ore shipments (100% basis) in 2015, compared to a year ago, according to the quarterly results released on January 19.
Global iron ore production stood at 327.6 million tons (mt) in 2015 and 87.2 mt in the fourth quarter (Q4) ended December 2015. The quarterly production was up 10% year-on-year (y-o-y) versus the same quarter last year.
Global iron ore shipments stood at 336.6 mt in 2015 and at 91.3 mt in Q4 2014. The Q4 production was up 11% y-o-y versus the same quarter last year.
There was, however, hardly any growth in Q4 2015 compared to the previous quarter (Q3 2015), the data shows.
Meanwhile, coking coal production increased by 11% y-o-y to 7.859 mt in 2015 and by 16% y-o-y to 1.9 mt in Q4 2015. The Q4 production was up 2% over the previous quarter.
Commenting on the Q4 results, company Chief Executive Sam Walsh said, “Against a challenging market backdrop for the industry, Rio Tinto remains focused on operating and commercial excellence to leverage the low-cost position of our Tier 1 asset base. In 2015, we delivered efficient production, meeting our targets across all of our major products, while rigorously controlling our cost base. We will continue to focus on disciplined management of costs and capital to maximise cash flow generation throughout 2016.”
Source: India Steel Market Watch