March 30 (Reuters) – Rio Tinto said on Monday operations at three of its four Pilbara iron ore port terminals have resumed after Tropical Cyclone Narelle swept through Western Australia’s Pilbara region, disrupting shipments but leaving its annual guidance unchanged.
Cyclone Narelle brought heavy rain and power outages to Australia’s northeast coast earlier this month, forcing the miner to temporarily shut two bauxite mines. South32 also suspended operations at its Gemco manganese mine, co-owned by Anglo American.
Narelle barrelled into Australia’s northwest coast last week, causing port closures in its iron-rich Pilbara region.
Rio, the world’s largest iron ore producer, said ship loading at three terminals resumed on March 28 following port closures on March 24.
Shipping at Cape Lambert A, the fourth terminal currently undergoing repairs, is expected to recommence “in the coming days”, the miner said.
Two tropical cyclones in February and March are estimated to have affected iron ore shipments for the firm by around eight million metric tons, Rio said, adding that it has “identified a pathway to recover around half of these losses.”
Rio’s guidance for its Pilbara iron ore shipments for 2026 remained unchanged at 323 million tons to 338 million tons.
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)
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