London, March 20, 2026, 14:51 GMT
Rio Tinto plc shares edged higher in London on Friday after the miner shut two bauxite mines in Queensland as Tropical Cyclone Narelle hit northeast Australia, though the move only partly steadied nerves after a bruising selloff. By 13:10 GMT, the London-listed shares were up 0.33% at 6,359 pence, while Rio’s Australia-listed stock had fallen as much as 4% earlier in the day to A$145.36, its lowest since Jan. 13. 1
The shutdown matters because Amrun and Andoom together produce about 30 million metric tons of bauxite a year. Bauxite is the ore used to make aluminium, and the disruption lands as the metal’s global supply chain is already tight after Gulf curtailments and shipping problems pushed London Metal Exchange aluminium to a four-year high last week. 2
Rio said it had activated cyclone response plans and was focused on staff safety and securing operations. Reuters reported that Narelle hit land in far north Queensland as a category four system packing winds of about 195 kph before being downgraded later on Friday. 2
The storm hit more than Rio. South32 paused operations at its Gemco manganese mine in the Northern Territory and moved non-essential personnel off site; Gemco is co-owned by Anglo American. 3
Investors are also dealing with a market that has turned jumpy on higher energy prices and the broader Middle East shock. “This buy-the-dip situation is nice, we’re not sure there’s enough money and confidence right now to drag markets upward,” Michael Field, chief European equity strategist at Morningstar, told Reuters as European shares slid on Thursday. 4
That backdrop helps explain why Friday’s move in Rio looked tentative. The stock had already dropped 4.88% on Thursday to 6,338 pence in London, before recovering only a sliver in midday trade on Friday. 5
But the weather hit may yet prove brief. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said early reports pointed to minimal damage, and the Bureau of Meteorology said the cyclone was expected to weaken as it moved west across Cape York. 3
A longer shutdown would be harder for the market to brush aside, not least because buyers are already paying up for prompt aluminium units. Rio did not say when Amrun and Andoom would restart, leaving investors to wait for damage checks in Queensland and a clearer read on any hit to shipments. 6
