Who we are

Procurement

We apply our approach to sustainable development along the supply chain encouraging those we work with to adopt sound practices. Payments to suppliers constitute a strong additional benefit to the economy, generating employment and creating wealth in other sectors.

Across the world, we spent US$13.5 billion on goods and services in 2007 (excluding Alcan). Rio Tinto had about 40,000 suppliers and Alcan had about 22,000, excluding suppliers for the engineered products and packaging divisions. The success of each of our business operations depends on the ability of those suppliers to deliver what we need, when we need it, and to our standards. We can exert a considerable positive influence by ensuring that suppliers meet stringent requirements, not just for the quality of the goods and services they provide, but also for their safety and employment practices and their commitment to sustainable development. To help explain Rio Tinto's procurement practice, we published The way we buy in 2006 which is on our website.