Rio Tinto ADR

This is our first report on global metals and mining giant, Rio Tinto. The company has been witnessing a decent demand for all of its primary commodities as per recent results. Steel demand has held steady despite pandemic related regulations and the ongoing downturn of the Chinese real estate industry. Weaker supply, including flat production from the majors and disruption to certain other sources of supply, particularly from Russia and Ukraine, helped to support prices. The aluminum market was also disrupted, primarily due to increased energy prices that began to affect supply in late 2021 and left relatively few physical supplies. Even though Kitimat only operated at 25% capacity, total sales volumes have been quite stable. Moreover, the Rio Tinto Safe Production System is still being effectively implemented, and there are now 15 deployments at 11 sites, up from 5 sites at the beginning of the year. Each deployment addresses a separate bottleneck. It is worth highlighting that the management kept moving forward with novel approaches to working with Traditional Owner groups. We initiate coverage on the stock of Rio Tinto with a ‘Hold’ rating.