Rio Tinto sees no material impact from Japan quake

PERTH, Australia - Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest miner, expects global markets to remain volatile in the short term, but said strong demand from China had offset any temporary loss of sales to Japan following the earthquake and tsunami disaster.

The company said it has seen little real impact from the crisis in Japan, its second-largest customer.

"We've seen some impact to individual shipments of some of our products, but they have almost entirely been offset by continued strength in the Chinese markets," Chief Executive Tom Albanese told reporters after the group's annual meeting on Thursday.