Company: RTNTF
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001628280-25-006642
Chunk: 88

Company: RIO TINTO LTD
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 20-F
Chunk 88
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-carbon steelmaking. This limits any potential impact onconsumer preferences for different kinds of iron ore.lThere is lower GDP growth and lower demand for iron ore inResilience compared with Conviction in the medium and long-term.                                                                        |     | lRising carbon prices, especially in Conviction, will become more material atour Australian and Canadian operations, and at the Simandou projectapproximately a decade later. In Resilience, Simandou is likely to remainunaffected by carbon costs for several decades.lAs carbon prices rise, and transitional assistance is phased out, carboncosts on steel producers will increasingly favour low-carbon steelmaking andhigher-quality ores. This will increase demand for our high-grade iron orefrom the Simandou and Canadian operations which also has lower energyrequirements when used in a blast furnace.lThe impact of low-carbon steelmaking on the relative economic value ofdifferent iron ore products, particularly lower grades, depends on thedifferent technologies that reach a mature phase of development. Althoughconsumer preferences may change, we also have some flexibility to alterour products’ technical specification. |
| Aluminium       | lCarbon costs are expected to rise, particularly at ourrefineries and smelters in Eastern Australia which currentlyrely on emission-intensive electricity. This will result inincreased energy costs.lPolicies to prevent carbon leakage are likely to emerge,supporting the continued production of aluminium in OECDcountries, but the implementation is highly uncertain.lThe contribution of aluminium to Group EBITDA averaged11% over the period 2019-23 (using long-run consensuspricing). Given our ambition to diversify our portfolio, weexpect its contribution to rise to around 15% by 2033 (on aconsistent basis).                                                                                  |     | lIn Conviction, carbon prices will push aluminium producers in OECD countriesto switch to renewable and zero-carbon power and look for alternatives tocurrent anode technology (eg ELYSIS™). Lower prices in Resilience maydelay hard-to-abate decarbonisation by a decade or morelOur hydro-based production in Canada and decarbonisation projects inAustralia will find markets in regions with a low-carbon premium suchas Europe.lAnnual demand for low carbon aluminium in Conviction is projected to beapproximately 1.8 times greater by 2050, while demand in demand inAspirational Leadership is expected to be higher than this.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| Copper          | lElectrification is supportive of near-term demand for copper,which is