Rio Tinto postpones its planned market briefings to better assess current situation

Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc (RIO.AX) (RIO.L) has postponed planned investor briefings in Australia and Britain until early next year, saying it needs more time to assess global financial turmoil. Invitations for the briefings had not yet been sent out and spokeswoman Amanda Buckley downplayed the significance of the postponement, saying it was "no big deal." "We do these briefings from time to time, and we've decided to postpone this one until early next year to get a better idea of the financial situation in the markets," she said on Friday. Rio, fighting an unsolicited, around $60 billion takeover offer from rival miner BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc (BHP.AX) (BLT.L), this week slashed fourth quarter iron ore production by up to 20 million tonnes due to softening demand in China. It is assessing the impact of dramatic declines in commodities markets across its businesses. Big drops in raw materials markets have seen copper prices this year tumble 50 percent, nickel fall 60 percent and aluminium lose 20 percent. Rio warned in mid-October of slowing Chinese demand for commodities, and signalled a possible delay in plans to sell $10 billion in assets. It also reported a 30 percent slide in July-September refined copper production. Rio Chief Executive Tom Albanese has said the global financial crisis had not swayed his opposition to BHP's all-share takeover offer for Rio. ---www.mineweb.com