July 17 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX :
* QTRLY ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION 858 KT VERSUS 888 KT A YEAR AGO
* QTRLY MINED COPPER PRODUCTION 156.8 KT VERSUS 124.7 KT A YEAR AGO
* QTRLY PILBARA IRON ORE SHIPMENTS (100% BASIS) 88.5 MT VERSUS 77.7 MT A YEAR AGO
* QTRLY PILBARA IRON ORE PRODUCTION (100% BASIS) 85.5 MT VERSUS 79.8 MT A YEAR AGO
* CO'S PILBARA SHIPMENTS IN 2018 EXPECTED TO BE AT UPPER END OF EXISTING GUIDANCE RANGE (330 TO 340 MILLION TONNES, 100 PER CENT BASIS)
* PILBARA SHIPMENTS IN 2018 ARE EXPECTED TO BE MORE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND HALVES COMPARED TO PRIOR YEARS
* EXPECTED SHARE OF PRODUCTION IN 2018 REMAINS UNCHANGED AT BETWEEN 49 & 51 MILLION TONNES OF BAUXITE & 8.0 TO 8.2 MILLION TONNES OF ALUMINA
* 2018 ALUMINIUM GUIDANCE OF 3.5 TO 3.7 MILLION TONNES TO BE ADJUSTED FOLLOWING COMPLETION OF SALE OF ALUMINIUM DUNKERQUE AND ISAL SMELTERS
* RIO TINTO'S EXPECTED SHARE OF MINED COPPER PRODUCTION FOR 2018 IS UNCHANGED AT BETWEEN 510 AND 610 THOUSAND TONNES
* "COST INFLATION IS BEING EXPERIENCED, PARTICULARLY IN THE ALUMINIUM GROUP WITH HIGHER RAW MATERIAL COSTS"
* REGARDING GRASBERG, CO EXPECTS ITS METAL SHARE FOR 2018 TO BE ZERO