(Updates with detail, background)
April 20 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO) RIO.L on Wednesday reported lower-than-expected iron ore shipments for the first quarter, as labour shortages and supply chain snags curtailed the global miner's efforts to ramp up its Pilbara operations in Western Australia.
The mineral-rich state lifted hard-line border curbs put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 only in early March, leaving companies to battle for months a dearth of mine workers and train drivers even as pent-up demand fuelled a rally in commodities.
Rio has also had to contend with a delay in production from a new greenfields mine, which led to a weaker-than-expected annual shipments forecast in January.
The world's biggest iron ore producer shipped 71.5 million tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making commodity in the three months ended March 31, compared with 77.8 Mt a year earlier and a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 76 Mt.
Production for the quarter stood at 71.7 Mt, down 6.2% from a year earlier.
Global miner BHP Group (BHP) is scheduled to report its third-quarter production results on Thursday. (([email protected]; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))
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