Rio Tinto increased spend with local suppliers in 2022

Rio Tinto has announced that it has increased its spend with Australian suppliers to more than $15.3 billion in 2022, an increase of almost 9% on the previous year.

The money was spent with more than 6200 businesses, including Australian owned and operated businesses and locally owned and managed branches of global companies. The company said the spend helped support tens of thousands of Australian jobs and delivered a significant economic contribution to communities across the country.

As part of this spend, more than $565 million was spent with Indigenous businesses across Australia — an increase of 40% on the year before.

“Supporting local businesses in the communities where we operate is a key priority for Rio Tinto,” said Rio Tinto Chief Executive, Australia Kellie Parker. “We strive to employ local people, buy local products and engage local services — especially from Indigenous, small and regional businesses.

“We are working hard to improve our approach to Indigenous business development and engagement in Australia, and while there is still more work to do, last year we significantly increased our spend with Indigenous suppliers.”

We couldn’t do what we do without our local supplier partners and having good relationships with them helps us find better ways to provide the materials the world needs and innovate to decarbonise our operations,” she added.

Rio Tinto engages with more than 20,000 suppliers globally, and in 2022, Rio Tinto increased its global spend with suppliers to US$22.5 billion, up from US$19.8 billion in 2021.

Image: iStock.com/Darryl Peroni