By Stuart Condie


SYDNEY--Rio Tinto maintained its 2024 guidance after the Australian mining giant reported a 10% fall in first-quarter iron-ore shipments.

The world's second-biggest miner by market value on Wednesday said it shipped 78.0 million metric tons of iron ore from its mines in Australia's Pilbara region in the three months through March. That's a 10% decline compared to the immediately preceding December quarter, and down 5% on the same period a year ago.

Rio Tinto's iron-ore mining operations there are the biggest in the world, alongside a network of mines run by rival Vale SA in Brazil. Rio's first-quarter production was 77.9 million metric tons of iron ore, down 11% on-quarter.

Rio Tinto maintained its annual shipment guidance of 323 million-338 million metric tons. Production guidance for all materials and operating costs was also unchanged.


Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-16-24 1925ET