Rio Tinto's iron ore production was registered at 73.24 million tonnes in the third quarter, falling 1% on the year but gaining 4% from the previous quarter. Shipments stood at 74.03 million tonnes, rising 2% year on year and 7% on the quarter.

Pilbara

Specifically, the company's equity iron ore output from the Pilbara operations stood at 70.86 million tonnes during July-September, flat year on year and rising 3% from the previous quarter.

The equity shipments came in at 71.74 million tonnes in the given period, up 3% year on year and 8% from the previous quarter.

The company's target shipment for this year is kept unchanged at 320-335 million tonnes.

The total iron ore production in the Pilbara operations was registered at 83.48 million tonnes in the third quarter, retreating 1% year on year but up 3% quarter on quarter, while total shipments rose 1% from a year earlier and 6% on the quarter to 83.89 million tonnes.

In the first three quarters of this year, the accumulated iron ore shipments in the Pilbara operations saw a 5% year-on-year increase backed by improved performance across the Pilbara system, production ramp-up in Gudai-Darri and an uplift in productivity from implementation of the Safe Production System.

IOC

Rio Tinto's equity iron ore production from the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) was 2.38 million tonnes, down 14% from a year ago yet up 16% compared with the preceding quarter.

The yearly decline was ascribed to extended plant downtime and conveyor belt failures, while the quarterly rise resulted from a recovery from wildfires occurring in Northern Quebec, Canada in the second quarter.

Rio Tinto's IOC aims to produce 9.30-9.80 million tonnes of pellets and concentrates in 2023, falling from previous target of 10.0-11.0 million tonnes.

The equity shipments stood at 2.30 million tonnes, dropping 17% year on year and 12% from the previous quarter, due to reduced production and reginal rail loading interruption risks affected by the wildfire.

The total production and shipments of iron ore pellets and concentrates of IOC stood at 4.06 million and 3.91 million tonnes in a 100% share basis, respectively.

Trade at Chinese ports

Rio Tinto sold 17.50 million tonnes of iron ore at Chinese ports in the first three quarters, lower than 19.50 million tonnes in the year-ago period. As of the end of September, the company's iron ore inventories were at 6.30 million tonnes, including 3.10 million tonnes from Pilbara operation.

(Writing by Riley Liang  Editing by Emma Yang)
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