(Reuters) - Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ) on Wednesday reported its weakest first-quarter iron ore shipments since 2019 and warned that more weather disruptions could lead to a 2025 forecast miss, after cyclones impacted the miner’s Pilbara operations.

The company now expects Pilbara iron ore shipments for 2025 to hit the lower end of its 323 Mt-338 Mt forecast range.

A series of tropical cyclones in the first quarter snarled activities at the Dampier port in the Pilbara region, with the company previously warning of total losses of 13 million metric tons of iron ore due to bad weather.

"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," the company said in a statement.

The miner has been struggling to consistently ramp up production while shipping more lower-grade ore as it prepares to bring its next generation of iron ore mines online.

It risks losing its position as the world’s top iron ore producer if Brazil’s Vale SA (NYSE: VALE ), which reported on Tuesday, achieves the upper end of its 325 Mt - 335 Mt guidance for 2025.

Rio Tinto’s 2025 guidance of 323 Mt-338 Mt excludes an expected 9.7 Mt-11.4 Mt from its Canadian operations.

Meanwhile, copper production on a consolidated basis rose 16% to 210 thousand tonnes compared with a year ago, but fell 8% quarter-on-quarter.

At its Kennecott operation in Utah, copper production plunged 32% from the previous quarter due to unplanned conveyor failures, though it increased 7% year-on-year. The affected conveyor has since been restored to full functionality, the company said.

The world’s largest iron ore producer shipped 70.7 Mt of the steel-making commodity from its Pilbara operations in the three months ended March 31, down from 78 Mt in the same period last year.

That missed a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 73.6 Mt.