Singapore 19/01/2016 - Rio Tinto’s aluminium production rose four percent year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter to 864,000 tonnes in the October-December quarter, taking its full year output to 3.32 million tonnes, up one percent from the previous year, the company said on Tuesday.
Record annual production at nine aluminium smelters had offset lower production from Kitimat in Canada which was being modernised and expanded, it said in its four quarter production report.
Kitimat’s ramp-up towards nameplate capacity of 420,000 tonnes is underway and expected to be achieved in early-2016, it added.
Rio Tinto expects its aluminium production to reach 3.6 million tonnes in 2016, up 8.4 percent from 2015.
Meanwhile its alumina production increased four percent year-on-year and three percent quarter-on-quarter to 2.01 million tonnes in October-December, taking its output to 7.79 million tonnes in 2015. This is up four percent from the previous year.
Rio Tinto expects its alumina output this year at 7.8 million tonnes, relatively unchanged from its production last year.