Features
CRU: Rio Tinto’s focus poised to change
Written by CRU
August 2, 2024
Long seen as being dominated by iron ore operations in Western Australia, diversified miner Rio Tinto is at an inflection point in its growth, according to CEO Jakob Stausholm, who referred to a step change from its aluminium business and consistent iron ore production at Pilbara.
“We have considerable growth in cash flow from the ramp-up of the underground copper mine at Oyu Tolgoi, and more value to come as our Simandou [iron ore] investment and Rincon lithium project proceed at pace,” he said. They are respectively in Mongolia, Guinea and Argentina.
Referring to aluminium smelters in Australia and New Zealand, he added: “We are also solving some of our most complex challenges through technology and partnerships, such as the renewable power solutions announced for Boyne and NZAS.”
And such is the shift away from a corporate focus on iron ore, Rio Tinto now talks of overall production in copper-equivalent terms. Strausholm said the company is on track to increase that by around 2% this year.
His comments accompanied the Australia-based company posting a net profit of $5.81 billion, up 13.5% year-on-year (y/y), though turnover was little changed at $26.8 billion.
Rio Tinto noted it expects to spend around $1 billion this on closure activities, including the Gove alumina refinery in Australia and at legacy sites.
This article was first published by CRU. To learn more about CRU’s services, visit www.crugroup.com.
Latest in Features
Final Thoughts
Sure, demand isn’t as good the market had hoped it would be earlier this year. But assuming it doesn’t fall of a cliff, buyers will have to restock at some point. And that might give domestic mills enough leverage to raise prices again.
AISI: Raw steel production dips, remains near multi-month high
Following three weekly increases, domestic mill output edged lower last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Nippon eyeing new $4B U.S. Steel mill to sweeten deal: Report
Nippon Steel could build a new domestic U.S. Steel mill with a total investment of $4 billion.
Final Thoughts
While I would anticipate market sentiment to pivot and improve if all the questions around tariffs were answered, that still leaves us with a few other factors.
Steel 101: Step inside a live steel mill
Go beyond the classroom with a behind-the-scenes mill tour at SMU’s next Steel 101 – an immersive, expert-led introduction to steel production and market dynamics.