Rio Tinto ramps up copper production as Trump preps fresh tariffs
- Miner says it faced $300m first half aluminum hit from US tariffs
- Fresh US tariffs are set to be imposed on copper imports from 1 August
Rio Tinto expects annual copper output to come in at the top end of forecasts, just as President Donald Trump prepares to slap hefty tariffs on US imports of the metal.
The mining giant, which this week named iron ore boss Simon Trott as its next chief executive, told investors on Wednesday that 2025 copper output has been boosted by the ‘continued successful ramp up’ of its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.
Rio Tinto is making progress towards making the mine the fourth largest in the world by 2030. It also expects ‘good performance’ at Escondida in Chile – the world’s largest.
The group now expects copper output to hit the top end of a 780,000 to 850,000 tonne forecast, while ‘good cost controls’ are set to drive the cost of production lower than initially forecast.
It follows upheaval in copper markets amid the threat of 50 per cent tariffs set to be imposed on US imports from 1 August
In response, a wide gap has opened between the price of the metal traded in the US compared to prices in London as exports from other countries become less appealing.
Rio Tinto wants its Oyu Tolgoi site to become the world’s fourth largest copper mine by 2030
As Trump ploughs ahead with efforts to force greater onshoring of US industry, Rio Tinto already suffered a £300million tariff hit within its Canadian aluminium business in the first half. However, this was partially offset by US premiums for the metal.
The group also reported its strongest second-quarter iron ore production since 2018.
It boasted a 13 per cent sequential rise in second-quarter production after rebounding from extreme weather-related disruptions earlier this year.
The world’s largest iron ore producer shipped 79.9 million metric tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making commodity from its Pilbara operations in the three months ended June 30, up from 70.7 Mt shipped in the March quarter.
However, this fell just short of guidance.
Outgoing boss Jakob Stausholm said: ‘We delivered excellent operational performance from our mine operations.
‘We will continue to drive progress towards our long-term strategy to deliver profitable growth and build a stronger, more diversified business.’
Rio Tinto shares were 1.2 per cent to 4,398.5p by midmorning, having lost 13.4 per cent over the last 12 months.
Adam Vettese, market analyst at eToro, said: ‘Overall, the results highlight Rio’s quality asset base and improving diversification but challenges in optimising system capacity and delivering higher-quality product remain areas to watch.
‘Investors will be looking for continued improvement in execution heading into H2, particularly in iron ore shipments, to unlock full value from the stronger underlying production performance and hope to see this trigger a reversal in the prevailing trend direction of the shares.’
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