Hmmm, from the SMH:
Rio Tinto’s rhetoric around shareholder returns appears to be changing, with its promise of “materially increased” shareholder returns replaced by a pledge to deliver “sustainable” cash returns next year.
The seemingly toned-down promise came in documents lodged with the ASX on Friday morning, ahead of a major strategy day in Sydney.
…Rio also announced it will defer the commissioning of a new greenfield mine in the Pilbara called Silvergrass, but insists it will achieve the same volume growth in iron ore exports over the same time frame by taking bottlenecks out of the system and improving productivity.
That is definitely RIO blinking in the production war. It said of the Silvergrass decision would be put off until “at least the third quarter of 2015 at the earliest”. Markets will be torn between a lower dividend and higher productivity and may be spooked (or roused) by RIO backing away from volume growth.
