Rio Tinto Reaffirms Goal To Meet 360 Mln Ton Iron Ore Target

(RTTNews) - Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Plc. (RTNTF, RIO, RIO.L, RTPPF) reaffirmed its goal to raise annual iron ore output in Australia to 360 million metric tons amid forecast growth demand in Asia.

At the Annual General meeting, the company chairman Jan du Plessis, said that the short term picture suggests significant industry challenges remain, with ongoing volatility and an uncertain outlook in commodity markets being a fact of life. And even if the short term is challenging, the long term outlook for sector remains positive.

Despite the fall in headline growth rates from double digits earlier this decade, China and Southeast Asia more broadly remain powerful economic influencers, Plessis said.

Beyond 2016, the company expects total cash returns to shareholders to be in a range of 40 to 60 per cent of underlying earnings. It intends that the full- year dividend for 2016 will be not less than 110 US cents per share.

At the meeting, the chief executive Sam Walsh said that the company reduced capital expenditure for 2015 to $4.7 billion and is reducing capital expenditure to $4 billion in 2016 and $5 billion in 2017.

Over the next two years, the company aims to cut operating costs by a further $2 billion,($1 billion in2016 and a goal for a further $1 billion in 2017).