Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian mining firm, saw the amount of iron ore shipped during 2011 below the amount it actually produced, the firm's latest operations update reveals.
Total shipments during 2011 were 239 million tonnes. The firm says extreme weather conditions affected Australia in particular.
Year on year hard coking coal production was down 2% in Australia, thermal coal was 3% lower, whilst semi-soft coal production slipped 7% compared with 2010.
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Total capital expenditure during 2012 is already expected to be $15bn with further project approvals likely to see this figure rise.
Over the last year Rio has lost 19% of its value.
BS
