Rio Tinto to cut iron ore output by 10%

Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest iron ore exporter, said on Nov 10 that it was planning to cut production by 10% from its giant Pilbara mine in western Australia to bring output in line with weakening demand. The Anglo-Australian mining giant said it was revising estimates of iron ore shipments from the Pilbara region to between 170mn tons and 175mn tons in 2008. The company produced 145mn tons of ore from its Pilbara mines last year. It had forecast 2008 output of between 190mn and 195mn tons in October. Rio produced 139.2mn tons in the first nine months of the year. "Operations continue to perform well, but demand has continued to decelerate. This reduction is a prudent move to align production with revised customer delivery requirements in the light of the fourth quarter drop in Chinese demand," said Rio's CEO Tom Albanese.