Rio Tinto beats quarterly iron ore sales estimates, flags rising diesel costs

July 15 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto posted better-than-expected second-quarter iron ore sales on Wednesday, supported by strong operational performance, though it will need a stronger second half to meet its annual targets.

The miner also said higher fuel costs stemming from the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran had raised current costs and would continue to affect full-year results, while keeping its 2026 Pilbara iron ore unit cash cost outlook unchanged.

Shares jumped as much as 2.8% to a one-week high, outperforming the mining sub-index, which was last up nearly 2%.

Rio Tinto, the world's largest iron ore producer, sold 85.3 million metric tons of the steel-making commodity from its Pilbara operations in the three-month period ended June 30, ahead of the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 83.6 Mt.

That compared with 79.9 Mt of iron ore sold in the same quarter last year.

First-half sales came in at 157.7 Mt, 5% higher than last year, leaving Rio Tinto on the hook for a stronger second half to hit its 2026 forecast of between 323 Mt and 338 Mt.

"Higher energy costs have lifted the global iron ore cost curve, particularly for marginal suppliers with greater exposure to diesel prices," the company said.

Average pricing in the first half at its Pilbara operations improved to $85.2 per wet metric ton on a free-on-board basis from $83.2 per wmt last year.

Operational impact from the Middle East conflict remains limited, with no material disruption to production or outbound supply chains across its core commodities, Rio Tinto said.

The miner added that it was monitoring conditions in the critical Strait of Hormuz and also maintaining contingency plans to address potential escalation or further disruption to global energy or logistics markets.

While year-on-year iron ore production held steady in the second quarter, Rio's output fell 7% sequentially from the March quarter.

QUARTERLY COPPER PRODUCTION DROPS

Overall copper production fell 7% in the June quarter to 213 Kt, behind the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 214.7 Kt due to lower production at Rio's Kennecott and Escondida mining operations.

A furnace outage at the Kennecott mine in the United States in late June is anticipated to affect copper and gold production in the second half.

Concentrate production at the Chilean Escondida operations declined 13% on lower grades.

Separately, the miner reduced its 2026 copper C1 net unit cost forecast to between 30 and 50 U.S. cents per pound from 65 to 75 U.S. cents a pound due to higher-than-expected gold prices and productivity improvements.

(Reporting by Sneha Kumar and Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)