Rio Tinto releases second quarter 2025 production results
16 July 2025
13% CuEq production uplift for Q2 YoY, and 6% for H1, as we execute our strategy
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said: “We delivered excellent operational performance from our mine operations with record production from our bauxite business and from Oyu Tolgoi as it ramps up to become the world’s fourth largest copper mine before the end of the decade.
“We continue to make strong progress in our production and growth projects, achieving our highest Pilbara Q2 production since 2018 and accelerating the first shipment from the Simandou high-grade iron ore project in Guinea.
“We will continue to drive progress towards our long-term strategy to deliver profitable growth and build a stronger, more diversified business.”
1. Executive Summary
• We’re pleased to have announced Simon Trott as Chief Executive with effect from 25 August 2025.
• Copper equivalent (CuEq) production rose 13% in Q2 YoY, and 6% YoY for the half year, driven by strong performance in our copper business and the contribution of the Arcadium acquisition.
• Copper production is now expected at the higher end, and copper unit costs around the lower end, of full year guidance ranges.
• Pilbara iron ore achieved its highest Q2 production since 2018, recovering well from Q1 extreme weather impacts.
• Bauxite achieved a second consecutive quarterly production record and is now expected at the higher end of the full year production guidance range.
• Lithium integration progressing to plan, in line with our strategy to establish a world-class lithium business.
• Simandou first shipment accelerated to around November 2025, with 0.5 to 1.0 Mt of shipments expected in 2025 (SimFer scope from Blocks 3 & 4).
• Continued progress with our Iron Ore replacement strategy: Western Range opened on time and on budget, while Hope Downs 2 received all Government approvals in Q2.
| Production1 | Q2 2025 | vs Q2 2024 | vs Q1 2025 | 2025 guidance5 | Guidance status | |
| Pilbara iron ore shipments (100% basis) | Mt | 79.9 | -1% | +13% | 323 to 3386 | Unchanged |
| Pilbara iron ore production (100% basis) | Mt | 83.7 | +5% | +20% | NA | Unchanged |
Bauxite | Mt | 15.6 | +6% | +5% | 57 to 59 | Unchanged7 (at higher end) |
| Alumina | Mt | 1.8 | +8% | -6% | 7.4 to 7.8 | Unchanged |
| Aluminium2 | Mt | 0.84 | +2% | +2% | 3.25 to 3.45 | Unchanged |
| Copper (consolidated basis)3 | kt | 229 | +15% | +9% | 780 to 850 | Unchanged7(at higher end) |
| Titanium dioxide slag | Mt | 0.3 | +13% | +21% | 1.0 to 1.2 | Unchanged8(at lower end) |
| IOC4 iron ore pellets and concentrate | Mt | 2.5 | +14% | +7% | 9.7 to 11.4 | Unchanged |
| Boric oxide equivalent | Mt | 0.1 | +6% | +13% | ~0.5 | Unchanged |
1 Rio Tinto share unless otherwise stated. 2 Includes primary aluminium only. 3 From Q1 2025, we report copper production and guidance as one metric, in order to simplify reporting and align with peer practices. For further details see slide 90 of our Investor Seminar 2024 presentation. 4 Iron Ore Company of Canada. 5 See further notes in Section 2, 2025 guidance. 6 As stated at Q1 2025 – at the lower end of guidance. 7 At the higher end of guidance. 8 At the lower end of guidance.
2. 2025 guidance
Production guidance
• 2025 production guidance is unchanged1.
Pilbara iron ore shipments
• We continue to expect Pilbara shipments to be at the lower end of guidance, due to four cyclones as announced in Q1.
• Pilbara iron ore guidance remains subject to the timing of approvals for planned mining areas and heritage clearances. The system has limited ability to mitigate further losses from weather if incurred.
Bauxite production
• Bauxite production is expected to be at the higher end of guidance range.
Copper production
• Copper production is expected to be at the higher end of guidance due to our continued successful ramp up of Oyu Tolgoi underground mine and good performance at Escondida.
Titanium dioxide slag production
• TiO2 production is expected to be at the lower end of guidance reflecting market demand.
1 Guidance remains subject to weather impacts.
Unit cost guidance
• 2025 unit cost guidance is unchanged.
- Pilbara iron ore: H1 benefited from a weaker than expected Australian dollar.
- Copper: we expect full year unit costs to be around the lower end of the guidance range due to good cost control, production volumes at the higher end of the full year guidance range and higher than expected gold prices driving net costs down.
| Unit costs | 2025 guidance |
| Pilbara iron ore unit cash costs, free on board (FOB) basis – US$ per wet metric tonne | 23.0-24.50 |
| Copper C1 net unit costs (includes Kennecott, Oyu Tolgoi and Escondida) – US cents per lb | 130-1501 |
3. Group financial update
Expenditure on exploration and evaluation
• Pre-tax and pre-divestment expenditure on exploration and evaluation charged to the profit and loss account in 2025 was $334 million, compared with $487 million in 2024. Approximately 33% of the spend was by central exploration, 10% by Minerals (with the majority focusing on lithium), 36% by Copper, 19% by Iron Ore and 2% by Aluminium. Qualifying expenditure on the Rincon project has been capitalised since 1 July 2024, accounting for most of the decrease in expense.
Net debt
• As communicated in our First Quarter Operations Review, completion of the Arcadium acquisition on 6 March increased the group’s net debt by approximately $7.6 billion1. This comprises $6.3 billion paid to Arcadium’s shareholders, $0.4 billion paid to their convertible loan note holders, consolidation of Arcadium’s $0.7 billion net debt and $0.2 billion loaned by Rio Tinto to Arcadium prior to the acquisition completing.
Working capital
• In H1 2025, we saw a cash outflow of approximately $0.6 billion from an increase in working capital. This included optimisation of stock levels in the Pilbara and normal seasonal movements in amounts due to JV partners and employees.
1 Subject to finalisation of acquisition accounting review.
4. Our markets
Global economy: improved from the end of the first quarter given US/China tariff de-escalation. However, geopolitical tensions and trade barriers remain near-term economic risks.
Chinese economy: industrial activity and net exports grew strongly during the quarter on the back of China’s highly competitive manufacturing sector. Trade diversification continued as the decline in exports to the US was more than offset by shipments to other regions. Retail sales growth was supported by ongoing stimulus measures while the government remains committed to infrastructure investment. However, headwinds such as trade tensions and a soft property market continue to pose challenges.
US economy: held up given resilient household consumption and private fixed investment. The impact of tariffs is still feeding through to inflation and sentiment. The housing market continues to be weak and building activities have been hampered by elevated mortgage rates and reduced labour supply.
Iron ore
• China’s crude steel production maintained a high annualised run-rate of more than one billion tonnes in Q2. However, global steel prices and mill margins remained under pressure.
• China’s steel exports for the period April to May increased to ~120Mt annualised run-rates, compared to 111Mt in 2024.
• Iron ore seaborne supply recovered strongly in Q2 from weather-related disruption earlier in the year. However, China’s inventories at 47 major ports were drawn down by 5Mt during the quarter to 145Mt.
Copper
• The London Metal Exchange (LME) price fell amid economic uncertainty in early April but recovered in May, driven by US-China tariff de-escalation, a weakening dollar and strong underlying fundamentals.
• The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cash price traded 10% above the LME price on average over the quarter, reflecting tariff risks.
• Copper concentrate market tightness intensified in Q2, with spot treatment and refining charges slipping further into negative territory. While some smelters outside China have scaled back production, Chinese smelters have ramped up refined output, further exacerbating the supply strain.
Aluminium
• The LME quarterly average price fell during Q2 amid global trade tensions but improved towards the end of the quarter, with rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East and easing of trade tensions between the US and China.
• Aluminium market premiums rose in the US in Q2 on a duty paid basis after implementation of Section 232 tariffs in April. The Q2 premium increased to largely cover the tariff cost. In Europe and Japan, aluminium market premiums fell on weak demand.
• Australian FOB alumina price rose in Q2, up from the lows in Q1, on improved fundamentals.
• Chinese bauxite spot import prices fell in Q2 on higher Guinean bauxite exports, despite continued risks to supply following the cancellation of several mining permits by the Guinean government in recent months.
Lithium
• Lithium demand remains strong driven by global EV sales which were up 29% YoY between April and May, and solid demand from stationary batteries. However, the market remains oversupplied due to producer resilience to falling prices while new projects ramp up.
Titanium dioxide
• Paint and pigment demand has not gained momentum, with downstream inventories continuing to build.
Borates
• The borates market diverged earlier in Q2 as tariffs disrupted US supply to China, while ex-China markets remained stable. Following tariff adjustments in May, demand from China has been strong.
| Index prices | Start of Q2 (01/04/25) | End of Q2 (30/06/25) | % change start – end Q2 | Q1 2025 average | Q2 2025 average | % change QoQ |
| Iron ore ($/dmt CFR China)1 | 104 | 94 | (10) % | 104 | 98 | (6) % |
| Copper (LME spot, c/lb) | 438 | 455 | 4 % | 424 | 432 | 2 % |
| Aluminium (LME spot, $/t) | 2,499 | 2,593 | 4 % | 2,627 | 2,448 | (7) % |
| Lithium carbonate (spot, $/t CIF China, Japan & Korea)2 | 9,350 | 8,100 | (13) % | 9,809 | 8,566 | (13) % |
2 Fastmarkets index for Lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3 battery grade.
Average realised prices achieved for our major commodities
| Units | H1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q1 2025 | H1 2024 | |
| Pilbara iron ore | FOB, $/wmt | 82.5 | 80.5 | 84.8 | 97.3 |
| Pilbara iron ore* | FOB, $/dmt | 89.7 | 87.5 | 92.2 | 105.8 |
| Aluminium** | Metal $/t | 3,125 | 3,040 | 3,223 | 2,746 |
| Copper*** | US c/lb | 436 | 441 | 430 | 419 |
| IOC pellets | FOB $/wmt | 130 | 127 | 133 | 154 |
**LME plus all-in premiums (product and market).
***Average realised price for all units sold. Realised price does not include the impact of the provisional pricing adjustments, which positively impacted revenues in the first half by $266 million (first half 2024 positive impact of $93 million).