Rio Tinto boosts dividends as earnings double amid iron ore boom
Mining giant Rio Tinto this morning announced that it would pay out $9.1bn in dividends after earnings more than doubled in the first half.
The FTSE blue chip said that the increase was due to a boom in iron ore prices due to massive demand from China.
Rio Tinto, which is the world’s biggest producer of the metal, said prices had nearly doubled on a year ago.
In total, the firm raked in $12.1bn in the first half, up from $4.7bn last year. As a result, it will pay out a 561 cent per share total dividend.
Chief executive Jakob Stausholm said “Government stimulus in response to ongoing COVID-19 pressures has driven strong demand for our products at a time of constrained supply resulting in a significant spike in most prices.”
This morning’s results come after Rio Tinto last night announced that it would build a new $2.4bn lithium mine.
The move is the firm’s first at-scale entry into the rapidly growing battery minerals market.
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