It also announced a full-year dividend of $4.92 per share, less than half of the record payout of $10.40 per share given in 2021.
Rio attributed the bleak results to strict covid-19 measures remaining in place in top steel producer China, which accounts for more than half of the miner’s revenue. This, the miner noted, dragged down iron ore and copper prices from record highs they hit in 2021.
The Anglo-Australian firm, the world’s largest producer of iron ore, saw earnings from the unit drop 33% last year. Financial gains from aluminum and copper also shrank 16% and 40%, respectively, on waning demand across the globe.
The company, however, said it was “quietly confident” the outlook for the global economy had improved after China, the world’s second-biggest economy, relaxed its pandemic restrictions.
Beijing re-opened the country’s borders and eased quarantine requirements for travellers in January, after three years…
