for those that missed it today here it is, page-59

Rio Tinto performing "extremely well" despite China slow-down
Wed 15 Oct 2008

RIO - Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto 2,309.00p -2.04%

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Miner and bid target Rio Tinto broke production records in iron ore, bauxite, hard coking coal and US coal in the third quarter.

Global production of iron ore in the third quarter of 2008 was up 17% on the corresponding period of 2007.

Bauxite production was up 93%, alumina up by 222% and aluminium up by 371%, reflecting the effect of the purchase of Alcan in the final quarter of 2007. With the Alcan acquisition stripped out, bauxite and aulumina output rose 11% and 2% respectively, while aluminium production dipped 1%.

Third quarter production of Australian hard coking and thermal coal was up by 40% and 8% respectively, while uranium productin rose 13%.

The company said there has been a deceleration of growth in the critical Chinese market, with the 2008 growth rate expected to fall below 10% from almost 12% last year.

The slow-down has been attributed to a tightening of credit policies late last year to address inflationary concerns; these policies are now being relaxed.

“'In the near term, the Chinese economy is pausing for breath. China is not completely insulated from an OECD recession and we will see an impact on Chinese exports,” said Ro Tinto’s chief executive, Tom Albanese.

“We expect third quarter economic data to show an exaggerated slowdown, reflecting the postponement of projects during the Olympics. Looking further out, Chinese GDP will remain largely driven by the domestic economy and we expect industrialisation and urbanisation to continue apace with strengthening demand across a range of Rio Tinto products,” Albanese added.