NEW YORK, April 6, 2026, 10:23 EDT
Rio Tinto plc edged lower in U.S. trading on Monday, with its New York-listed ADRs — U.S.-traded receipts that track its London shares — down about 0.5% at $94.01, as investors weighed higher energy prices against the miner’s cyclone-hit iron ore system. The move came while Rio’s home markets in London and Australia were closed for Easter Monday. 1
The move matters because Pilbara iron ore in Western Australia still does most of the heavy lifting for Rio’s profits. Rio said on March 30 that two recent cyclones had cut expected shipments by about 8 million tonnes, although it kept 2026 Pilbara guidance at 323 million to 338 million tonnes and said it had identified a path to recover around half the lost volume. 2
The timing is tight for shareholders. Rio’s financial calendar shows April 7 as the currency conversion date for its 2025 final dividend and April 16 as the payment date. 3
Oil is part of the calculation. Brent crude was up 0.1% at $109.13 a barrel and U.S. crude was up 0.69% at $112.31 on Monday, after last week’s sharp gains, as traders watched U.S.-Iran talks and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. 4
Diesel, the main fuel for mine trucks, rail and port equipment, can hit margins quickly. Fortescue metals chief executive Dino Otranto said last month that a 10-cent move in diesel added $70 million to Fortescue’s costs and about half a billion U.S. dollars to the cost base of the “top four” iron ore miners; Rio said in February its Pilbara unit costs were about $0.50 a tonne higher in 2025 and are forecast at $23.50 to $25 a tonne this year. 5
Rio has been trying to show investors it is not only an iron ore story. The miner reported $10.87 billion in underlying earnings in February, declared a final dividend of 254 U.S. cents a share and set a payout ratio of 60% — meaning 60% of underlying earnings would be returned to shareholders — while Chief Executive Simon Trott said the result showed “clear progress.” 6
Even so, Rio looks more iron ore-heavy than rival BHP. BHP said in February that copper had overtaken iron ore in its earnings for the first time, making up 51% of operating earnings, and Andy Forster of Argo Investments said Rio’s result was “not as impressive as BHP”; BHP’s U.S.-listed shares were also slightly lower on Monday. 7
The risk is that Rio’s recovery case weakens if Cape Lambert A took longer to restart than the company expected on March 30, or if fuel stays high. SEB Research analyst Ole Hvalbye said on Monday the market was still trying to “realise what to expect going forward,” while Rystad analyst Janiv Shah said OPEC supply moves looked constrained by export availability. 8
