Rio Tinto (RIO 0.47%) broke company records in one of its key products last year, shipping 247 million metric tons of iron ore while producing 253 million metric tons of the material, a new high for the company. The latter number was 4% higher than 2011's figure, and bettered the company's expectations by 3 million metric tons, the company announced this week.
Rio Tinto also recorded production increases for several of its other materials. These include bauxite and alumina, which advanced 11% and 12%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. Copper (6%) and thermal coal (16%) also grew over 2011 levels.
