Rio bearish on global economy as costs rise, commodity prices slump

Rio Tinto’s flagship iron ore division has suffered a surge of absenteeism in the past fortnight and further inflationary pressures as another big commodity price slump threatened to push the iron ore price below $US100 per tonne on Friday.

Rio provided a bearish outlook for the “weakening” global economy on Friday, saying there were “considerable” headwinds facing China’s recovery from pandemic lockdowns and warning of “increasing risk” that rapid interest rate rises in the United States would subdue demand.