Rio Tinto resumes operations at three Pilbara port terminals after cyclone Narelle
March 30 (Reuters) – Rio Tinto said on Monday operations at three of its four Pilbara iron ore port terminals had resumed after tropical cyclone Narelle swept through Western Australia’s Pilbara region, disrupting shipments but leaving its annual forecast unchanged.
Cyclone Narelle brought heavy rain and power outages to Australia’s northeast coast earlier this month, forcing the miner to temporarily close two bauxite mines. South32 also suspended operations at its Gemco manganese mine, co-owned by Anglo American.
Narelle swept across Australia’s northwest coast last week, prompting the closure of ports in the iron-rich Pilbara region.
Rio, the world’s largest iron ore producer, said ship loading at three terminals resumed on March 28 after ports closed on March 24.
Navigation at Cape Lambert A, the fourth terminal currently under repair, should resume “in the coming days”, indicated the miner.
Two tropical cyclones in February and March are estimated to have affected the company’s iron ore shipments by around eight million tonnes, Rio said, adding that it had “identified a path to recover around half of these losses”.
Rio’s forecast for its Pilbara iron ore shipments for 2026 remained unchanged at between 323 million and 338 million tonnes.
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bangalore; editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)
