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Mining titan Rio Tinto reported a fall in annual and fourth-quarter production across all of its commodities, as the pandemic disrupted its operations.
Iron ore production in the three months through December fell 2% year-on-year to 84.1 million tonnes, bringing the annual fall to 4%.
Quarterly and annual output also fell for bauxite, aluminium, copper and titanium.
'In 2021 we continued to experience strong demand for our products while operating conditions remained challenging, including due to prolonged Covid-19 disruptions,' chief executive Jakob Stausholm said.
'Despite this, we progressed a number of our projects, including the Pilbara replacement mines, underlining the resilience of the business and the commitment and flexibility of our people, communities and host governments.'
'We are seeing some initial positive results from the implementation of the Rio Tinto safe production system, which we will significantly ramp up in 2022, as we continue to work hard to improve our operational performance to become the best operator.'
Looking forward, Rio Tinto forecast flat to rising output in 2022 for most commodities, including annual iron ore shipments of 320 million to 335 million tonnes, compared to 322 million in 2020.