Rio Tinto CEO: Output To Rise 8% A Year Across Commodities

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) Chief Executive Tom Albanese Tuesday forecast the mining giant’s production would grow more than 8% across all commodities through 2015 as new projects come on line.

Albanese’s comments, released in the outline from a speech and presentation slides from a mining conference in Miami, pressed the case for continuing demand from the developing world coupled with limited new supplies coming on line.

Albanese predicted his company’s production of aluminum would rise 7.6% a year through 2015 as projects such as the Coega smelter in South Africa come on line. That project depends on securing electricity from the country’s electricity supplier. Other projects also are pending final approval.

Albanese also said iron ore production growth is expected at 9.4% a year.

"Market consensus has consistently under-estimated both aluminium prices and iron ore prices. Much too early to call the end of the iron ore price cycle," he said in a statement outlining his speech.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) CEO Marius Kloppers is scheduled to give a presentation later in the day.

Rio Tinto in February rejected BHP’s hostile, all equity bid then valued at $147.4 billion. BHP is offering 3.4 of its shares for every one Rio Tinto share.

The two sides have since worked to contrast their prospects for growth and profits, with special emphasis on Rio’s aluminum and iron ore business, and BHP’s petroleum and coal.