-- Global iron ore supply expected to grow at least 100 million tons a year over next seven years
-- 500 million tons of that iron ore supply to meet iron ore demand growth; 200M ton to replace costly output
-- Rio Tinto to account for 25% of the extra iron ore supply output
-- Rio Tinto sees iron ore output capacity reaching 450 million tons a year by 2016
(adds Rio Tinto iron ore production forecast until 2016 in the fifth graph)
By Alex MacDonald
Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) expects to account for more than 25% of additional global iron ore output over the next seven years, a senior executive at the company said Wednesday, with global iron ore supply needs growing at a rate of at least 100 million metric tons a year in order to meet global demand for the steelmaking raw ingredient.
Global population growth, particularly in developing countries, is expected to result in the urbanization of close to 3 billion people between 2010 and 2050, Alan Davies, president of International Operations at Rio Tinto Iron Ore, a unit of the globally diversified miner, said in a presentation for an iron ore conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
"The China steel story has a long way left to run, with India and others to follow," Mr. Davies said in his presentation.
Mr. Davies said 500 million tons of the expected global iron ore supply growth over the next seven years will be used to satisfy iron ore demand growth, while 200 million tons will be used to replace high cost iron ore production that is forecast to shutdown.
Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest iron ore producers with approximately 23% of seaborne iron ore trade, expects its own production of the steelmaking raw ingredient to reach 450 million tons a year by 2016, on a 100% consolidated basis. This compares with output of 245 million tons in 2011 on a comparable basis.
The presentation was posted on the company's website Wednesday.
-Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 06, 2012 07:41 ET (11:41 GMT)
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