Other products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, gold, industrial minerals, coal and uranium. Aluminium is the second most important asset representing close to 16% of operating profits. Their minority 34% stake in the Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi mine will raise the profile of copper in the company over time.
Not surprisingly, if you overlay the iron ore and Rio share price on a chart, the high level of correlation is more than clear.
In 2015, fears of a Chinese slow down pushed the iron ore price to a trough of c$40 per ton. Since then, the price rallied to a March 2017 high of $90. It is now trading at $75 and appears to have upward momentum as Chinese steel production recently surprised on the upside in terms of both volume and margins. That was in conjunction with weak supply and weak guidance from many of the miners.
