logo
Rio Tinto names iron ore boss Simon Trott as CEO

Rio Tinto names iron ore boss Simon Trott as CEO

Reuters18 hours ago
July 15 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), opens new tab, (RIO.L), opens new tab on Tuesday named Simon Trott, the current head of its iron ore division, as its new chief executive officer, replacing Jakob Stausholm, who announced his intention to step down in a surprise announcement in May.
Trott will take over the duties of group CEO effective August 25.
Stausholm, who oversaw a big bet on lithium and expansions in iron ore and copper, was named CEO in 2020 as the miner grappled with legal, public and investor angst over the destruction of Australia's ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters, which led to the ousting of its former CEO.
Trott, a 20-year veteran at Rio, has brought to market its biggest new iron ore mine in more than a decade in Western Australia and is building out a huge programme of replacement tonnes in the state.
He also served as the miner's chief commercial officer from 2018 to 2021. Trott has faced pushback from investors because the quality of ore in Rio's exports has dropped during his tenure and the miner has struggled to reach the top end of its production forecast.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Indigenous groups ask Chile court to pause community review of Codelco-SQM lithium deal
Indigenous groups ask Chile court to pause community review of Codelco-SQM lithium deal

Reuters

time22 minutes ago

  • Reuters

Indigenous groups ask Chile court to pause community review of Codelco-SQM lithium deal

SANTIAGO, July 15 (Reuters) - Two Indigenous groups in northern Chile have asked a local court to suspend a state-led community review process that is required for a lithium partnership between copper giant Codelco and lithium miner SQM ( opens new tab, according to legal documents reviewed by Reuters. The Indigenous community of Coyo and the Atacameno Association of Irrigators and Farmers of San Pedro de Atacama each independently filed legal challenges last week with a Chilean appeals court in the Antofagasta region, accusing Chilean economic development agency Corfo of not properly carrying out a consultation process to seek their input on the partnership. The process is one of the final conditions for a deal to go into effect in which state-run Codelco will take a majority stake in SQM's lithium mining operations in the Atacama salt flat. The Coyo community and the Atacameno Association of Irrigators and Farmers, which has Indigenous members, said they needed more information and time to be able to provide informed consent on the plan. The Antofagasta court on Friday accepted their challenges, according to a court document. It ordered Corfo to respond to the allegations within 15 days, and asked Codelco and SQM to provide comments. Corfo told Reuters that the consultation process was still in progress. "The Indigenous consultation process with the Atacama Indigenous organizations is moving forward and has been carried out in accordance with the regulations," the agency said in a statement. Codelco declined to comment, while SQM did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The Indigenous consultation, which was led by Corfo and included a few dozen community groups located around the Atacama salt flat, was due to conclude around late July. SQM and Codelco are separately holding talks with communities near the salt flat to discuss a model for Indigenous oversight over lithium extraction. The Coyo community and Atacameno Association of Irrigators and Farmers both asked the court to suspend the process until a new methodology for the community review could be implemented, and more information provided. Both groups said Corfo had not provided enough detail about the proposed contract between Codelco and SQM and argued that the consultation's timeline between November 2024 and July 2025 was too fast to allow for detailed analysis. They also said Corfo at several points did not act in good faith, and did not meet the standards set out by the International Labour Organization, a U.N. agency. "This situation directly affects the fundamental rights of the Community by limiting its influence over decisions that impact its territory, environmental surroundings, and collective rights, thereby violating constitutional guarantees," the Coyo community said in its court filing.

No more card surcharges: what the Reserve Bank's proposed changes mean for your wallet
No more card surcharges: what the Reserve Bank's proposed changes mean for your wallet

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

No more card surcharges: what the Reserve Bank's proposed changes mean for your wallet

That extra 10c on your morning coffee. That $2 surcharge on your taxi ride. The sneaky 1.5% fee when you pay by card at your local restaurant. These could all soon be history. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has proposed a sweeping reform: abolishing card payment surcharges. The central bank says it's in the public interest to scrap the system and estimates consumers could collectively save $1.2bn annually. But like all major financial reforms, the devil is in the detail. Surcharging was introduced more than two decades ago to expose the true cost of different payment methods. In the early 2000s, card fees were high, cash was king and surcharges helped nudge consumers towards lower-cost options. But fast-forward to 2025, and the payments ecosystem has changed dramatically. Cash now accounts for just 13% of in-person transactions, and the shift to contactless payments, accelerated by the pandemic, has made cards the default for most Australians. When there's no real alternative, a surcharge becomes less a useful price signal and more a penalty for convenience. After an eight-month review, the bank's Payments System Board has concluded the surcharge model no longer works in a predominantly cashless economy. The proposal now on the table is to phase out surcharges and instead push for simplified, all-inclusive pricing. At first glance, removing surcharges looks like a win for consumers. Every household could save about $60 per year, based on the RBA's estimates. But payment costs don't vanish – they shift. This is where the Reserve Bank's proposal is more sophisticated than it may appear. Alongside banning surcharges, it plans to lower interchange fees (the fees merchants pay to card networks such as Visa and Mastercard) and introduce caps on international card transactions. These changes aim to reduce the burden on merchants, which in turn limits the pressure to raise prices. Some worry that without surcharges, businesses will simply embed the costs into product prices. That's possible. However, the bank estimates this would result in only a 0.1 percentage point increase in consumer prices overall. There are three reasons for that: Most merchants already don't surcharge, especially small businesses. Of them, 90% may have included card costs in their pricing. Competition keeps pricing in check. Retailers in competitive markets can't raise prices without risking customers. Transparency is coming. The reforms will require payment providers to disclose fees more clearly, allowing merchants to compare and switch – fostering more competition and lower costs. That said, the effects won't be felt evenly. Merchants in sectors that do currently surcharge, including hospitality, transport and tourism, will need to rethink their pricing strategies. Some may absorb costs; others may pass them on. Consumers stand to benefit most. They'll avoid surprise fees at checkout, won't need to switch payment methods to dodge surcharges and won't have to report excessive fees to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission. Combined with lower interchange fees, this means consumers should face less friction and more predictable pricing. About 90% of small businesses don't currently surcharge and would gain around $185m in net benefits. These businesses often pay higher interchange fees, so the reform will reduce their costs. New transparency requirements will also make it easier to find better deals from payment service providers (PSPs). Large businesses already receive lower domestic interchange rates, but they'll benefit from new caps on foreign-issued card transactions, which is a win for those in e-commerce and tourism. Banks that issue cards stand to lose about $900m in interchange revenue under the preferred reform package. Some may respond by raising cardholder fees or cutting rewards, especially on premium credit cards. But they may also gain from increased credit card use as surcharges disappear. The 10% of small and 12% of large merchants who currently surcharge will have to adjust. They may face retraining costs and need to revise their pricing strategies. Most will be able to adapt, but the transition won't be cost-free. Payment service providers will face about $25m in compliance costs to remove surcharges and provide clearer fee breakdowns. For some, this may involve significant system changes, though one-off in nature. The Reserve Bank's proposal tackles real problems: an outdated surcharge model, opaque pricing by payment service providers, and bundling of unrelated services into payment fees. Its success depends on how well these reforms are implemented and whether they deliver real price transparency and lower costs. Removing visible price signals may create cross-subsidisation, where users of low-cost debit cards subsidise those who use high-cost rewards credit cards. Some economists argue this could reduce overall efficiency in the system. International experience offers mixed lessons. While the European Union and United Kingdom banned most surcharges years ago, outcomes have varied depending on market conditions. Efficiency gains haven't always followed, and small business concerns persist. The Reserve Bank is seeking feedback until 26 August, with a final decision due by year-end. If adopted, the reform will be phased in, allowing time for businesses to adapt. For consumers, this may mark the end of hidden payment fees. But for the broader system, success will depend on more than just eliminating surcharges. It will require meaningful competition, transparency and vigilance during the transition. While not a major omission, mobile wallets (such as Apple Pay) and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services represent a missing component in the broader payments ecosystem that the current reforms do not yet address. These platforms operate outside the traditional regulatory framework, often imposing higher merchant fees and lacking the transparency applied to card networks. Their growing popularity, especially among younger consumers, means they increasingly shape payment behaviour and merchant cost structures. To build a truly future-ready and equitable payments system, these emerging models may need to be brought into the regulatory fold. Angel Zhong is a professor of finance at RMIT University This article was originally published in the Conversation

Rio Tinto misses estimates for iron ore output, copper forecast upbeat
Rio Tinto misses estimates for iron ore output, copper forecast upbeat

Reuters

timean hour ago

  • Reuters

Rio Tinto misses estimates for iron ore output, copper forecast upbeat

July 16 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto ( opens new tab, (RIO.L), opens new tab on Wednesday posted a lower-than-expected rise in iron ore shipments for the second quarter, but forecast fiscal 2025 copper production at the higher end of its guidance range. Iron ore shipments at Rio Tinto, the world's largest producer of the steel-making commodity, are recovering after a series of tropical cyclones snarled operations in the March quarter. In the three months ended June 30, the miner shipped 79.9 million metric tonnes (Mt) of iron ore from its Pilbara operations, a 13% rise from the previous quarter but below a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 81.98 Mt. Rio Tinto shipped out more of its lower-quality SP10 iron ore. SP10 levels accounted for 29% of Pilbara shipments. It forecast full-year copper production at the higher end of its guidance range and expects unit costs around the lower end, as its Oyu Tolgoi underground mine in Mongolia ramps up. The miner reaffirmed its full-year iron ore shipment forecast at the lower end of its range of 323 million metric tonnes (Mt) to 338 Mt. Rio Tinto on Tuesday named Simon Trott, head of its most profitable iron ore division, as CEO, succeeding Jakob Stausholm, who unexpectedly announced in May he would step down after four-and-a-half years.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store