I hope the big miners are paying RIO a handsome kickback

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Because it sure is taking it for the team. RIO is doing a great job of limiting supply as it finds problem after problem with its fully completed Pilbara 360 iron ore expansion, leaving 30 mt of capacity idle on the shelf:

Pilbara operations Pilbara operations produced 157.0 million tonnes (Rio Tinto share 128.7 million tonnes) in the first half of 2017, two per cent lower than the same period of 2016 reflecting adverse weather conditions in the first quarter. Second quarter production of 79.8 million tonnes (Rio Tinto share 65.0 million tonnes) was slightly lower than the same quarter of 2016 and three per cent higher than the first quarter due to fewer weather impacts. First half sales of 154.3 million tonnes (Rio Tinto share 127.2 million tonnes) were three per cent lower than the same period of 2016 due to weather impacts in the first quarter and accelerated rail maintenance activity in the second quarter. Second quarter sales of 77.7 million tonnes (Rio Tinto share 64.0 million tonnes) were six per cent lower than the same period of last year, also reflecting the rail maintenance. Further rail maintenance will continue throughout the remainder of 2017, albeit at a lower level than in the second quarter. The expenditure, a portion of which is capital, is included within the Group’s existing guidance. Approximately 19 per cent of sales in the quarter were priced with reference to the prior quarter’s average index lagged by one month. The remainder was sold either on current quarter average, current month average or on the spot market. Approximately 64 per cent of sales in the quarter were made on a cost and freight (CFR) basis, with the remainder sold free on board (FOB). Achieved average pricing in the first half of 2017 was $62.4 per wet metric tonne on an FOB basis (equivalent to $67.8 per dry metric tonne). In 2016, the full year price achieved was $49.3 per wet metric tonne (equivalent to $53.6 per dry metric tonne).

The gap is being gleefully filled by everyone else. FMG is rushing in:

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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.