Company: RTNTF
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001628280-25-006642
Chunk: 44

Company: RIO TINTO LTD
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 20-F
Chunk 44
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 Simandou iron ore project in Guinea reports to the Chief Technical Officer and is reported outside the Reportable segments. 2. The Pilbara underlying free on board (FOB) EBITDA margin is defined as Pilbara underlying EBITDA divided by Pilbara segmental revenue, excluding freight revenue. 3. Capital expenditure is the net cash outflow on purchases less sales of property, plant and equipment; capitalised evaluation costs; and purchases less sales of other intangible assets. 4. Underlying return on capital employed (ROCE) is defined as underlying earnings excluding net interest divided by average capital employed. Financial performance Underlying EBITDA of $16.2 billion was 19% lower than 2023, primarily due to lower realised prices ( $2.7 billion ) and marginally lower shipments. Unit costs of $23.0 per tonne were $1.5 per tonne higher than 2023, driven by lower iron ore production and inflation. Our Pilbara operations delivered an underlying FOB EBITDA margin of 65% , compared with 69% in 2023, largely due to the lower iron ore price and lower volumes. We price the majority of our iron ore sales (78%) by reference to the average index price for the month of shipment. In 2024, we priced approximately 10% of sales with reference to the prior quarter’s average index lagged by one month with the remainder sold either on current quarter average, or other mechanisms. We made approximately 75% of sales including freight and 25% on an FOB basis. We achieved an average iron ore price of $89.6 per wet metric tonne (2023: $99.7 per wet metric tonne) on an FOB basis, equivalent to $97.4 per dry metric tonne, with an 8% moisture assumption (2023: $108.4 per dry metric tonne). This compares to the average price for the monthly average Platts index for 62% iron fines converted to a FOB basis of $98.4 per dry metric tonne (2023: $110.3 per dry metric tonne). Segmental revenue for our Pilbara operations included freight revenue of $2.3 billion (2023: $2.1 billion). Net cash generated from operating activities of $11.7 billion was 17% lower than 2023, driven by the same drivers as underlying EBITDA. After capital investment, which included