Rio Tinto on Tuesday reported a 5.4% drop in iron ore shipments in the fourth quarter, due to a delay in the completion of a new mine in Western Australia and lower demand from the main consumer, China, which is seeking to reduce its carbon emissions.
The world’s largest producer of iron ore shipped 84.1 million tonnes (Mt) of this raw material in the three months to December 31, compared to 88.9 Mt a year earlier. This figure is slightly higher than UBS’s estimate of 84 Mt. (Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Harish Sridharan Bengaluru; editing: David Gregorio).