Simon Trott shied away from farming because of fickle weather but couldn’t escape cyclones in iron ore

Rio Tinto’s new chief executive, Simon Trott, departs his iron ore-specific role with storm clouds lingering over the company’s capacity to hit full-year guidance.

Rio Tinto’s Western Range iron ore project in the Pilbara.

Simon Trott jokes that he didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a farmer because of the vagaries of the weather, and the threat of drought and failed crops.

He sees the irony of his final year of running Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations being cruelled by the weather.

A series of cyclones that hit the company’s Pilbara mines in Western Australia this year causing flooding, damage and disruption has had far-reaching implications. Rio on Wednesday reiterated warnings that its 2025 iron ore shipments would be at the lower end of guidance in the aftermath of the four cyclones in the three months to the end of March.

The results were released as Rio chairman Dominic Barton talked up Mr Trott as a leader with an innovation mindset who would “challenge orthodoxies” in his new role as group chief executive.

“Pilbara iron ore guidance remains subject to the timing of approvals for planned mining areas and heritage clearances. The system has limited ability to mitigate further losses from weather if incurred,” Rio said.

Rio’s mining operations bounded back to produce 87.3 million tonnes as it played catch-up in the June quarter – the highest volume for the three-month period since 2018. However, some port maintenance work is still outstanding and June quarter shipments were 3.9 million tonnes below production expectations.

Simon Trott, second from right, with members of the PKKP Aboriginal Corp signing a landmark agreement with Rio Tinto.

Rio also continued to grapple with the reduced quality of its iron ore, and notified customers of changes to specifications of its mainstay Pilbara Blend product.

In the June quarter, Rio chalked up 7.8 million tonnes in portside sales and nearly all of it was either screened or blended in Chinese ports. It achieved average pricing in the first half of 2025 of $US82.5 per wet metric tonne compared to $US97.3 in the first half of 2024.

Managing the declining grades and the ambitious rollout of new mines are just some of the challenges facing Mr Trott as he prepares to take the reins as CEO from August 25.

His reputation as an innovator able to instil high levels of accountability helped tip the scales in his favour when the Rio board assessed other leading internal candidates, including Frenchman Jérôme Pécresse, who is in charge of Rio’s aluminium business, and Mongolian-born chief commercial officer Bold Baatar.

It is understood Rio chief technical officer Mark Davies, whose responsibilities include delivering the Simandou project and the new Pilbara mines, was also interviewed along with chief executive for minerals Sinead Kaufman.

Sources close to Rio expect a shake-up of the executive team sooner rather than later once Mr Trott gets to work from a base in London.

Mr Davies is seen as a leading contender for the role as iron ore boss, given his role in Simandou and delivering the recently opened $US2bn Western Range iron ore mine – a partnership between Rio and Chinese steelmaking giant Baowu in the Pilbara – on time and on budget.

Brisbane-based Kaufman started out as a geologist and is the only member of the current Rio executive committee with hardcore, frontline experience running mines across multiple commodities, including in the Pilbara. Her future and next challenge is unclear post her role in Rio’s expansion into lithium.

Mr Trott is expected to introduce new blood to the executive committee and potentially seek to bolster the expertise in mining.

He is also likely to address the unusual reporting arrangements around former Arcadium chief executive Paul Graves’ appointment to run Rio’s big bet on lithium. Rio acquired Arcadium for $US6.7bn under departing chief executive Jakob Stausholm and is also developing the $US2.5bn Rincon project in Argentina.

As it stands, Mr Graves reports to Mr Stausholm and is not part of the Rio executive committee.

Former colleagues and those who know Mr Trott well have backed him to make hard calls at Rio as it eyes production growth of 3 per cent a year over key commodities across the next decade, while trying to address recent increases in fixed costs and workforce numbers.

They said it was easy to be deceived by what appeared to be the former farm boy’s laconic nature.

Although Mr Trott hails from a farm near the tiny Wheatbelt town of Wickepin in WA, it was far from humble beginnings.

Mr Trott attended Christ Church Grammar, one of WA’s top private schools that has produced former British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington, Peter Holmes a Court, former WA chief justice Wayne Martin and more recently entertainer Tim Minchin. Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest also attended the school for a period.

He graduated in the class of ’91 and is now a member of the council that runs Christ Church Grammar. One of his sons is in Year 12 at the school while the other has graduated. The 50-year-old and wife Veronica have a daughter at St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, where former alumni include Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart.

Steve Martin, a former Wickepin shire president and now WA Liberal Party MP, said Mr Trott’s father, Clive, ran a successful farm near the Wickepin-Pingelly border before the family sold up and left the district.

Mr Martin, himself a farmer, said it was great to see a local boy make good and joked that Mr Trott would only be more famous around the district if he played AFL. “It is wonderful to see a guy from a small country town, a very small country town, rise to the top of the corporate tree,” he said.

Mr Martin said he didn’t know Mr Trott well but caught up with him a few years ago on a leg of former prime minister Tony Abbott’s Pollie Pedal to raise funds for charity. He talked to Mr Trott about his links to Wickepin before the Rio boss – who, like predecessor Mr Stausholm keeps super fit – disappeared down the road on his bike.

Mr Martin said the “weather gods” had smiled on Wickepin in recent times and the district was on track for another good harvest later in 2025.

WA premier Roger Cook said Mr Trott’s appointment was an endorsement of everything Rio had done to maintain the state as one of the “great mining jurisdictions in the world”.

“The other thing is that I and the government have a great working relationship with Rio Tinto and have enjoyed the relationship that we have with Simon Trott in his leadership of the iron ore division,” Mr Cook said.

“We’re obviously delighted that we’ve got one of our own right at the top now. I did point out to him that it would mean that he had to move to London, and that’s something that no one should have to endure if the other option is to live in Perth.”

In an internal memo to the Rio workforce, Mr Trott paid tribute to Mr Stausholm and his iron ore colleagues. “On a personal note, I want to thank Jakob for his leadership and guidance over the past few years. There have been many highlights of our time together – from incredible moments with our team members and stakeholders on site, to lively debates and plenty of challenge to improve,” he said

“The recent Rio Tinto leadership conferences in Karratha in WA, and the opening of our newest iron ore mine in the Pilbara (Western Range) will remain some of my fondest memories. As a company we owe huge thanks to Jakob for putting us on a much better path and I’m determined to work with my colleagues on the executive team and each of you to unlock Rio’s full potential from here.”

Mr Barton told analysts that the company was focused on growth in iron ore, copper, aluminium and lithium, but wanted to reduce its heavy earnings reliance on iron ore.

“We think Simon is the right leader to be able to take us through that (growth opportunity),” Mr Barton said.

“He brings a deep understanding of mining and a track record of delivering operational excellence and creating value across the business. I’d say he’s got a unique combination of depth of understanding of the business across the board, but also an innovation mindset. He challenges orthodoxies. And I think we saw that on many dimensions in his leadership in the iron ore business.”

Rio shares rose 24c to $110.52 on Wednesday.

Originally published as Simon Trott shied away from farming because of fickle weather but couldn’t escape cyclones in iron ore