Company: RTNTF
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001628280-25-006642
Chunk: 41

Company: RIO TINTO LTD
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 20-F
Chunk 41
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 tonnes of commercial qualityaluminium, with first production targeted by 2027.The joint venture is continuing its R&D program to scale up the ELYSISTMtechnology. It hasbegun commissioning the larger prototype 450 kA cells at the Alma smelter, with the start-up sequence set to begin in 2025 (previously 2024).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |

| Annual Report on Form 20-F 2024 | 24 | riotinto.com |

Strategic report

Iron Ore

| We are one of the world’s leading producers of iron ore,the primary raw material in steelmaking. In the Pilbara regionof Western Australia, we operate a network of 17 iron oremines, 4 port terminals and a rail network spanning nearly2,000 kilometres. Steel remains essential for ongoingurbanisation and will support the global shift to decarbonise. |     |                                                             |     |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |     | We also continue our work to build amentally healthy, safe, and supportiveworkplace. Our focus is fostering a strongreporting culture where our people feelsafe to speak up.We continue to develop the capability ofour leaders, empowering them to identifyand address psychosocial risks.Our psychosocial incident investigationprocess and related tools have beendeveloped and tested, with implementationacross our operations now well underway,reflecting the importance of these risks.Market insightsIn 2024, global steel demand reversed its2023 gains, contracting by -1% year-on-year, as weak construction steelconsumption in China outweighed gains inother end-use sectors and regions.China’s steel exports exceeded 110 milliontonnes for the first time since 2015, whichsupported crude steel production. Chinaimported around 1.3 billion tonnes of ironore for the 5th consecutive year, while portinventories accumulated to 3-year highs of156 million tonnes. This dynamic was alsodriven by a record 1.6 billion tonnes ofseaborne supply.The major iron ore producers shippedalmost 1.23 billion tonnes in 2024, up from1.21 billion tonnes in 2023, but still belowthe 1.24 billion tonnes in 2018. Seabornesupply from all other, typically higher-cost,producers hit a new high of 340 milliontonnes in 2024. Since around half of thissupply was relatively high cost and priceelastic, average annual iron ore