Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto Ltd <RIO.AX> on Friday posted a 5.5% rise in quarterly iron ore shipments, boosted by strong production in March that more than offset damages caused by a tropical cyclone in the Pilbara region earlier in the quarter.
The world's largest miner of iron ore shipped 72.9 million tonnes of the commodity during the quarter ended March 31, compared with 69.1 million tonnes a year earlier. UBS had expected shipments of 74.4 million tonnes.
The miner lowered its 2020 spending to $5 billion to $6 billion from its earlier guidance of $7 billion, partly due to the COVID-19 crisis and in part due to favourable currency impact from a stronger U.S. dollar, it said. (This story corrects second paragraph to say Rio Tinto is the world's largest miner of iron ore, not second-largest)
(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
