Rio Tinto and Glencore have posted near-record updates thanks to this year’s sky-high commodity prices and the uncertainty wrought by the Middle East conflict. Mining juggernaut Rio Tinto notched a 43 per cent jump in profit over the first six months of the year, pointing to persistently elevated metals prices and the ambitious efficiency programme it launched in 2025. Glencore and Rio both posted higher production. The whipsawing of developments in the Middle East led to higher trading volumes, acting as a major leg up for the Swiss firm. Boss Gary Nagle pointed to higher production volumes in zinc, nickel and gold as helping the miner’s “strong production performance” in the first six months.