Rio Tinto increased Pilbara iron ore shipments in the second quarter of 2026, but the improvement was driven primarily by logistics recovery and inventory drawdown rather than higher mine production.
The London-listed mining group shipped 85.3 million tonnes of Pilbara iron ore, an increase of 7% from 79.9 million tonnes in the same quarter a year earlier. The result was above market expectations of approximately 83.6 million tonnes.
Pilbara production, however, remained broadly unchanged at 83.5 million tonnes and fell 7% sequentially. The increase in shipments followed the recovery of rail and port operations from cyclone-related disruption in the first quarter, alongside a reduction in inventories.
Pilbara shipments rise as annual guidance remains unchanged
Rio Tinto reported first-half Pilbara shipments of 157.7 million tonnes, representing a 5% year-on-year increase.
The company maintained its full-year shipment guidance of 323 million–338 million tonnes. Delivering the bottom of that range would require approximately 165 million tonnes of shipments in the second half, while reaching the upper end would require more than 180 million tonnes.
The required second-half volumes place continued emphasis on rail and port performance and on maintaining shipment rates without excessive reliance on stockpile reductions.
Pricing also improved during the first half. Rio Tinto’s average realised Pilbara price increased to US$85.20 per wet metric tonne FOB, compared with US$83.20 per tonne a year earlier.
Pilbara cash-cost guidance remains at US$23.50–US$25.00 per tonne. Higher diesel prices are expected to increase costs by approximately US$0.80 per tonne.
Copper output falls as grades and Kennecott operations weaken
Copper production provided a weaker operating result. Group output declined 7% to 213,000 tonnes, reflecting lower grades at Escondida and a furnace outage at Kennecott in Utah in late June.
Despite the lower production, Rio Tinto reduced its copper net-unit-cost guidance from US$0.65–US$0.75 per pound to US$0.30–US$0.50 per pound.
The revised guidance is mainly attributed to productivity improvements and stronger gold by-product credits, which have offset some of the impact from weaker copper operating performance.
The differing results across the two commodities leave Rio Tinto with stronger near-term earnings support from iron ore, while copper remains a central component of its longer-term growth profile. The lower copper cost guidance does not remove the need to address furnace reliability at Kennecott and the impact of declining grades at Escondida.
