Rio Tinto (RIO.L/RIO.AX): Q2‘26 operations – production broadly on expected line, copper unit cost guidance upgraded

Research evidence excerpt

Rio Tinto (RIO.L/RIO.AX): Q2‘26 operations – production broadly on expected line, copper unit cost guidance upgraded

Viewpoint |

14 Jul 2026 19:54:18 ET │ 16 pages

Rio Tinto (RIO.L/RIO.AX)

Q2’26 operations – production broadly on expected line, copper unit

cost guidance upgraded

Ephrem Ravi AC

CITI'S TAKE +44-20-7986-2462

Q2’26 production results for RIO came in ahead of expectations for iron ore ephrem.ravi@citi.com

with shipments rising 7% y/y (+2% vs VA consensus). Copper production Krishan M Agarwal

however was mostly inline at 213kt (VA consensus at 216kt). Production in

aluminium, lithium was broadly in-line, while gold/silver production +44-020-7986-4092

reported significant y/y increase. The continued increase in gold/silver krishan.agarwal@citi.com

production and stronger spot prices has led the company to upgrade its Ijeoma Ihuegbu

guidance for full year 2026 copper unit costs. RIO now expects the 2026 +44-207-986-3914

copper unit costs between $c30-50/lb, vs earlier guidance of $c65-75/lb.

The iron ore unit costs are unchanged despite the higher energy costs. We ijeoma.ihuegbu@citi.com

see the operating resilience in iron ore, cost tailwinds in copper, continued Thiago Ojea

ramp-up in lithium and strong US-Midwest premium in aluminium as +61-2-8225-2404

positives from the quarter. thiago.ojea@citi.com

Copper cost tailwinds from higher gold/silver — Consolidated copper production Jack Whelan

at 213kt in the quarter was in line to VA consensus expectations at 216kt. Although +61-2-8225-5979

production declined by 7% vs last quarter with Kennecott production falling short of jack.whelan@citi.com

expectations, offset by better Escondida and Oyu Tolgoi. RIO has upgraded its

2026-unit costs guidance for copper to $c30-50/lb, vs $c65-75/lb earlier. While