Rio Tinto posts lowest Q1 iron ore shipments since 2019, tempers forecast

By Roushni Nair and Melanie Burton

(Reuters) - Rio Tinto on Wednesday reported its lowest first-quarter iron ore shipments since 2019 and warned that more weather disruptions could lead to a 2025 forecast miss, after cyclones impacted the miner's Pilbara operations.

The company now expects Pilbara iron ore shipments for 2025 to hit the lower end of its forecast range of 323 million to 338 million metric tons.

A series of tropical cyclones in the first quarter snarled activities at the Dampier port in the Pilbara region, with the company previously warning of total losses of 13 million tons of iron ore due to bad weather.

Rio Tinto has implemented recovery plans to recoup about half the weather-related losses at a cost of about A$150 million ($95 million) for repairs and additional contract mining across its Pilbara operations.

"Pilbara iron ore guidance remains subject to the timing of approvals for planned mining areas and heritage clearances. The system has limited ability to mitigate further losses from weather if incurred," the company said in a statement.

Shares of Rio Tinto fell 1.2% to A$110.14, in line with the 0.2% drop in the broader mining sector.

The miner has been struggling to consistently ramp up production while shipping more lower-grade ore as it prepares to bring its next generation of iron ore mines online.

It risks losing its position as the world's top iron ore producer if Brazil's Vale SA, which reported on Tuesday, achieves the upper end of its 325 million to 335 million tons guidance for 2025.

Rio Tinto's 2025 outlook of 323 million to 338 million tons excludes an expected 9.7 million to 11.4 million tons from its Canadian operations.

Meanwhile, copper production on a consolidated basis rose 16% to 210 thousand tons compared with a year ago, but fell 8% quarter-on-quarter.

At its Kennecott operation in Utah, copper production plunged 32% from the previous quarter due to unplanned conveyor failures, though it increased 7% year-on-year. The affected conveyor has since been restored to full functionality, the company said.

The world's largest iron ore producer shipped 70.7 million tons of the steel-making commodity from its Pilbara operations in the three-month period ended March 31, down from 78 million tons last year, and missed a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 73.6 Mt.

($1 = 1.5785 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Roushni Nair & Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Melanie Burton in Sydney; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)