Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) said on Wednesday it was on track to release about US$5 billion ($7.16 billion) in capital by the end of 2026, after strong mine performance helped lift third-quarter iron ore sales from its Pilbara operations above market expectations.
The world’s largest iron ore producer sold 85.7 million tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making commodity from Pilbara in the quarter ended 30 September, up 2% from a year earlier and ahead of a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 84.41Mt.
The miner said it had already released more than US$2 billion in capital this year under a US$5–US$10 billion optimisation program unveiled at its 2025 Capital Markets Day, aimed at supporting higher-return growth projects.
Rio shares were volatile in early trade, rising as much as 0.9% before reversing course to trade 0.2% lower at $160.67 by 00:17 GMT.
Copper output was broadly flat at 205,000 tonnes as a 27% rise at Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi mine offset lower production at Chile’s Escondida and weaker refined copper output from Kennecott in the United States.
Rio maintained its 2026 Pilbara iron ore sales forecast of 323–338Mt. It has shipped 243.4Mt so far this year, implying it needs to ship 79.6Mt in the fourth quarter to reach the lower end of the target range. The fourth quarter is typically Rio’s strongest period.
In lithium, Rio said full-year production was now expected at the lower end of its 61,000–64,000-tonne forecast range, citing a slower-than-anticipated ramp-up at its Sal de Vida project in Argentina.
Rio’s Simandou project in Guinea sold 1.7Mt of iron ore in the first nine months. To meet the lower end of its full-year sales forecast of 5–10Mt, the project will need to sell about 3.3Mt in the December quarter.
(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee & Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Subhranshu Sahu)
Main Image: Rio Tinto
