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
US rig counts fall to 2.5-year low, Canadian activity picks up
Active drilling rig activity in the US declined to a multi-year low this week, while Canadian counts marched higher, according to the latest data from Baker Hughes.
CRU: Core Natural Resources created in the US
Coal miners Consol Energy and Arch Resources have completed what they describe as a merger of equals to form Core Natural Resources. Headquartered in Canonsburg, Pa., the new company has the potential to produce 12 million metric tons (mt) per year of metallurgical coal and more than 25 million mt per year of thermal coal, as […]
Final Thoughts
Next Monday marks the start of the second Trump administration. The limbo we’ve been living in since Election Day in early November will finally come to an end. What better way to take a look at what’s coming up in Washington, D.C., than a conversation with Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) President Philip K. Bell. He […]
Steel market chatter this week
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.
Final Thoughts
It’s another week of big headlines and ho-hum pricing moves – which is to say the start of 2025 is looking a lot like the end of 2024. Scrap has settled up $20 per gross ton (gt). Steel prices, however, were a soft sideways this week. Chalk it up to uneven demand and abundant supply. And while we’re not aware of any major outages, some of you tell us that you’ve lost some shipping days here and there because of the recent cold snap.