Rio Tinto is on track to meet its iron ore shipment target for the year after posting a 17 per cent jump in exports during the September quarter.
The company drew on stockpiles to boost sales during the quarter as it looks to make up for the impact of bad weather in the first half of 2015.
The world's second largest iron ore miner shipped 91.3 million tonnes of iron ore in the three months to September, and production was up 12 per cent at 86.1 million tonnes.
Rio maintained its guidance of shipping around 340 million tonnes of iron ore in 2015. It plans to use up inventories at its Pilbara operations, built up during the infrastructure expansion phase, by early 2016.
Along with rivals BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale, the company has been ramping up production despite falling iron ore prices in an effort to corner the global market.
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Rio said last month that demand for iron ore would continue to grow despite current soft conditions.
Iron ore prices have plunged more than two-thirds in the last four years as growth in China's steel industry has slowed, forcing higher cost miners out of the market.
Spot iron ore prices currently hover around $US53 a tonne.
CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said it was encouraging that there had not been a build up of inventories at Chinese ports, despite a significant rise in Rio's shipping rate.
"It suggests that increased production from Australia is now being at least partly offset by production cuts from Chinese mines," he said.
Rio's iron ore production had taken a hit in the first half of the year as unseasonal weather events in the Pilbara, including two cyclones, forced it to pare back is previous annual target of close to 350 million tonnes.
The miner completed its Pilbara expansion during the first half of the year.
"Our expanded Pilbara infrastructure is in place, and the iron ore product group is successfully commissioning and testing the system, reflected in the increased iron ore shipments to our customers during the period," chief executive Sam Walsh said.
Rio shares were down 24 cents at $54.01 at 1255 AEDT.
