Rio Tinto Limited (ASX:RIO) has beaten its own guidance and achieved better than expected iron ore output and shipment growth over the 2014 calendar year.
The mining giant reports annual global iron ore output climbed 11 per cent to 295.4 million tonnes and shipments rose 17 per cent to 302.6 million tonnes.
Over the year mined copper rose 4 per cent, bauxite slipped 3 per cent, aluminium declined 1 per cent, hard coking coal fell 9 per cent and semi-soft and thermal coal dropped 6 per cent.
CEO Sam Walsh says Rio Tinto had a successful year of production capped off with a robust fourth quarter and output came in line with its targets across all major products.
Rio Tinto reported a net profit of $4.54 billion in the first half of the 2014 calendar year.
