CANBERRA: Rio Tinto has backed its Australian iron ore division to produce its best three months so far by retaining its full-year export target in spite of a weak start to the year. Wet weather and rail disruptions have already forced Rio to downgrade its iron ore export guidance once this year, and the company remains behind the pace required to meet its revised export target of around 330 million tonnes, despite an improved performance between July and September. Rio would need to ship 89.8 million tonnes from Western Australia in the final three months of the year to meet the 330 million tonne milestone; 3 per cent more than the company has ever shipped in a three-month period. Such a result would also see the company effectively exporting at its long-promised annualised rate of 360 million tonnes a year, including tonnes owned by joint-venture partners.
The iron ore division’s best ever quarter was in late 2016, when Rio shipped 87.7 million tonnes from Western Australia, and the miner has only twice shipped more than 86 million tonnes in a three-month period. But despite the size of the task, Rio was sticking with its 330 million tonne export guidance on Tuesday after exports in the third quarter of 2017 were 11 per cent higher than the second quarter at 85.8 million tonnes.