UK-Australian metal producer Rio Tinto has started loading iron ore onto ships at its East Intercourse Island facility at the Port of Dampier today, ending over one month of weather-related export disruptions.
Cyclone Sean flooded one of the company's railcar dumpers as it passed Dampier on 20 January, damaging it and halting exports from the iron ore terminal.
But Rio Tinto did not stop all shipments in February. The company moved ore out of Australia's Pilbara region throughout most of the month, using other dumpers at Dampier and the nearby Port Walcott.
Rio Tinto announced on 20 February that severe weather events over January and February — including Cyclones Sean, Zelia, Tahlia, and Vince — disrupted 13mn t of ore shipments. The company's mitigation plans only account for roughly half of the losses, it added at the time.
Rio Tinto maintained its 2025 ore shipment guidance at 323mn-338mn t on 3 March, but announced that it would update investors again in mid-April, when the company publishes its first-quarter operations review.
Argus' iron ore prices rose slightly over the last quarter. Its iron ore fines 62pc Fe (ICX) cfr Qingdao price stood at $106.50/t on 28 February, up 4.3pc from $102.10/t three months earlier.
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