Rio Tinto Group, the world’s biggest iron ore exporter, warned shipments of the steelmaking material will be impacted this quarter after a tropical cyclone in Australia’s northwest damaged a port facility.

Tropical Cyclone Sean delivered record rain along parts of the Pilbara coastline of Western Australia, impacting Rio Tinto rail and port operations.

The mining giant posted a sharp rise in second-quarter copper production thanks to a jump in output at Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine.

A railcar dumper at the East Intercourse Island (EII) port facility, which handled 45 million metric tons of total iron ore shipments in 2024, had experienced severe flooding, the producer of the steel-making commodity said.