SMM News: in the first quarter of 2018 in most products have made relatively steady development. But production from iron ore projects in the Pilbara region fell 7 per cent to 57.8 million tonnes in the first quarter from a year earlier, slightly below market expectations as a result of bad weather.
Copper production, due to the end of the Escondida copper strike in the first half of last year, led to a rebound in production, copper production in the first quarter of this year was 139300 tons, up 65% from the same period last year, down 6% from the previous month; Refined copper production was 56100 tonnes in the first quarter, up 48 per cent from a year earlier and up 25 per cent from a month earlier.
Rio Tinto expects copper production targets to remain unchanged at 51-610000 tonnes in 2018. Refined copper production is expected to be between 22.5 and 265000 tons.
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Rio Tinto produced 71.436 million tonnes of iron ore in the first quarter of 2018, up 8 per cent from a year earlier and down 6 per cent from a month earlier.
Rio Tinto produced 846000 tonnes of refined aluminium in the first quarter of 2018, down 5 per cent from the first and fourth quarters of 2017. Alumina production was 1.99 million tons in the first quarter, down 3 per cent from a year earlier and 4 per cent from a month earlier. Bauxite production in the first quarter was 12.653 million tons, up 12 per cent from a year earlier and down 8 per cent from a month earlier.
