Rio Tinto reported a 1% drop in second-quarter iron ore shipments on Wednesday as a train derailment in June offset continued production ramp-up at its Gudai-Darri mine.

A train carrying iron ore near the port of Dampier at the company’s Western Australia operations derailed during a weekend in June. The company reopened the line a few days later.

Iron ore prices eased over the second quarter on concerns over China’s debt-ridden property sector, but the prices have since recovered on expectations that the country will take the path of stimulus measures to shore up its economy.

Rio Tinto, the world’s biggest iron ore producer, shipped 79.1 million tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making ingredient from its Pilbara operations in the three months ended June 30, compared with 79.9 Mt a year earlier. That missed an estimate of 81 Mt compiled by Visible Alpha, according to UBS

Source: Hellenic Shipping News