Rio Tinto says global economy resilient, inflation easing despite patchy China

Rio Tinto says the global economy is resilient and inflation is trending down despite China’s patchy recovery, energy prices and shipping costs remaining volatile, and shipments of iron ore have been falling over the past three months as bad weather disrupted its ports.

The mining giant says iron ore depletion at its Pilbara operation saw output of the key steelmaking ingredient – one of Australia’s largest exports – fall 2 per cent to 77.9 million tonnes over the first quarter. Shipments, at 78 million tonnes, were 5 per cent lower than in the first quarter last year.