Rio chief says its markets in good shape despite crisis

This was because the mining giant was increasingly trading with China, which would be less impacted by the worldwide economic meltdown than Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies, Albanese said.

"In relation to the current financial crisis, my fundamental conclusion is that the markets for Rio Tinto's products remain in good shape," he told a forum in Melbourne on Friday.

"Prices for most of Rio Tinto's exchange-traded commodities remain well above recent trend.

"Expectations about the fundamental strength of these markets remain in place despite the current anxieties in the global economy.

"The outlook remains for constrained supply conditions, firm demand from China and other developing countries (and) should provide the basis for higher than average prices through 2009.

"Nonetheless, I see two short-term countervailing influences: first, the financial sector is contributing to a new dimension of volatility ... impacting exchange rates and other financial variables.

"And we will more commodity price volatility as a result, especially when viewed in US dollar prices.

"Second, while Rio Tinto's growing exposure to Chinese markets shields us from OECD impacts of the crisis, there has been a modest, clearly discernable deceleration in China's growth."