SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (>> Rio Tinto Limited) Chief Executive Sam Walsh said on Thursday he sees 120 million tonnes of global iron ore capacity exiting the market this year.

Walsh told reporters the iron ore market was at "some sort of equilibrium" after the global miner posted a 43 percent drop in first-half underlying earnings to $2.9 billion (1.85 billion pounds) from the same period a year ago, hit by weak iron ore, coal and metals prices.

(Reporting By Jim Regan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Stocks treated in this article : Rio Tinto Limited, Rio Tinto plc