Rio Tinto PLC said on July 14 that iron ore production in the second quarter increased by 12% compared with the same period of last year, and stated that its Australian coal mine business is recovering from flooding, but it also warned of cost pressures.

In his statement, Rio Tinto’s chief executive, Aberdeen, stated that “the business has largely recovered from the bad weather earlier this year, but some ports and railways are still subject to certain restrictions.”

Albanese warned that while most metals and ore prices continue to perform strongly in the second quarter, “the negative impact of the exchange rate is deepening and there is pressure on input costs.”

According to the company, the output of iron ore in the second quarter was 49 million tons, which represented an increase of 12% over the same period of last year and an increase of 17% compared with the first quarter of this year. This output was slightly higher than most analysts' estimates.

However, shipments of 110 million tons of iron ore in the first half of the year were 6 million tons less than in the first half of 2010, which was affected by several hurricanes, flooding, and train derailments in Western Australia in the first quarter of this year.

Rio Tinto Iron Mine takes two forms of independent operation and joint venture.

Australia’s hard coking coal production increased by 9% from the first quarter but fell by 26% from the second quarter of the previous year due to heavy rain that hit Queensland’s coal mines in late 2010 and early 2011.