Mining giant Rio Tinto has lifted iron ore shipments by slightly more than expected in the third quarter, helped by improved rail capacity and performance at its Pilbara operations.
The world's second-largest iron ore exporter - after Brazil's Vale - shipped 85.8 million tonnes of iron ore in the September quarter, up six per cent from a year ago.
UBS had forecast quarterly shipments of 84.6 million tonnes.
Production of the steel-making ingredient was also up two per cent to 85 million tonnes in the three months ended September 30.
The miner is making good progress with improvements at the main Pilbara iron ore business, which has included recently starting operations at the Silvergrass mine and expanding the use of the AutoHaul automated train system, chief executive Jean Sebastien Jacques said.
"The business performed very well in the September quarter, with a strong quarterly production performance and a wave of productivity improvements embedded through our operations," he said.
The strong quarter comes amid recent improvement in iron ore demand and prices as top customer China maintains steel output against expectations.
The World Steel Association this week said it expects Chinese steel production to rise three per cent this year, before stabilising through 2018.
China's iron ore imports jumped 16 per cent in September to 102.83 million tonnes, breaching the 100 million tonne level for the first time, official trade data last week showed.
That has prompted a strong recovery in iron ore prices in the last few sessions to about $US63 a tonne.
Prices are, however, still below the peak of $US95 a tonne earlier in the year and are expected to decline to an average of $US50 a tonne in 2018, according to an estimate by a key federal government economic forecaster.
The September quarter results will help Rio make up for a sluggish first half-year, when a combination of bad weather and rail track maintenance forced it to lower full-year guidance.
On Tuesday, the miner maintained that revised guidance for iron ore shipments at 330 million tonnes but cut its estimate for copper production for a second time this year.
Rio produced 120,600 tonnes of copper in the September quarter and now expects to between 460,000 and 480,000 tonnes of copper for the full year, down from its previous forecast of 500,000 and 550,000 tonnes.
It has blamed the delayed ramp-up at at the Escondida copper mine in Chile and mine sequencing changes at the Kennecott mine in Utah for the changes.
It also lowered guidance for thermal and coking coal due to the sale of its Coal & Allied operations in NSW to Yancoal during the quarter.
RBC Capital Markets' analyst Paul Hissey called it a solid result, despite the lowered guidance.
"We believe Rio will remain a beneficiary of ongoing reforms in China, which appear to be supporting key commodity prices," he said in a note.
By 1502 AEDT, Rio Tinto shares were up two per cent at $71.97, their highest level in more than six years..
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