London, Feb 27, 2026, 08:51 GMT — Regular session
Rio Tinto shares rose 1.8% to 7,413 pence in early London trade on Friday, clawing back some of Thursday’s slide after the miner struck a new cooperation agreement with Chile’s state copper giant Codelco. The stock opened at 7,426 pence after closing at 7,282 on Thursday, and it has swung sharply this week after touching 7,557 pence on Wednesday, a 52-week high. 1
The timing matters. Investors have been piling into miners with copper and lithium exposure as copper prices stay elevated, even as the market keeps one eye on China-linked bulk commodities such as iron ore, which still drive a big share of cash flow for the sector.
Codelco and Rio Tinto said they signed a memorandum of understanding to explore development and investment opportunities, setting up a joint steering committee of senior executives to identify pilot projects and oversee initiatives. The focus is on project management, operational standards and supply chain coordination, and it builds on existing ties in Chile, including the Nuevo Cobre copper project and lithium work at the Maricunga salt flat, the report said. 2
Copper prices were steady-to-firmer into the European morning. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) edged up 0.12% to $13,320.50 a tonne and was set to end the week up 2.77%; “technical resistance” — a level that has capped rallies — sits around $13,500, analysts at Sucden Financial said. 3
Iron ore, the other big lever for Rio’s earnings, was softer. The most-traded May contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.27% to 746.5 yuan a tonne, while the April benchmark on the Singapore Exchange slipped 0.22% to $98.15, with traders bracing for steel production cuts from March 4 that could curb demand for the feedstock. 4
Rio’s annual results last week underlined the tug-of-war between iron ore and copper. The miner posted underlying earnings of $10.87 billion for 2025, flat year-on-year and below expectations, and declared a final dividend of 254 U.S. cents per share; “A good result, perhaps as not as impressive as BHP, particularly with capital liberation,” said Andy Forster of Argo Investments in Sydney. 5
Analysts have not all bought into the latest run-up. RBC analyst Ben Davis kept a Neutral rating on the stock and left his target price at 5,900 pence, according to a MarketScreener note, which also lists Rio’s next scheduled update as a first-quarter operations review due April 20. 6
One risk is that the copper story gets crowded just as iron ore cools. If Chinese steel output slows more than expected, ore prices can drop quickly and drag the sector with it, while a pause in copper’s rally would test how much of the recent bid is “metal fundamentals” and how much is positioning.
Another near-term catalyst is dividends. Rio’s financial calendar shows the 2026 final dividend goes ex-dividend on March 5 for Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited ordinary shares — meaning buyers from that date no longer receive the payout — with the ADRs going ex-dividend on March 6. 7
For now, traders will track copper around the $13,500-a-tonne level and iron ore into the March 4 steel-cut start date flagged by market participants, while looking for any detail that turns the Codelco memorandum into concrete projects.
