Rio Tinto sees customers turning cautious (Reuters)

MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) ? Global miner Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) (RIO.L) warned on Monday that further cracks could be emerging in global commodities markets as the economies of Europe and the U.S. waver, with its customers increasingly cautious on the outlook.

Still, the world's second largest miner of iron ore and a large producer of copper, coal, aluminum and other industrial staples, said it was able to sell all the commodities it could produce.

The company's comments matched rival BHP Billiton (BHP.AX)(BLT.L), which earlier this month turned slightly more bearish on commodities demand, warning that some buyers were facing tighter access to credit. [ID:nL3E7MH03D]

In a statement ahead of an investor briefing, Rio Chief Executive Tom Albanese said continuing stresses in the euro zone and a weaker outlook for the U.S. economy were affecting customer sentiment, which had become more negative in recent months.

"For the near term I am concerned about the general softening of prices when we continue to see cost escalation and strong currencies in Australia and Canada," Albanese said.

"But while there are signs of nervousness, we believe the impact of current economic concerns on our business is manageable, unless financial markets substantially deteriorate," he said.

At the same time, Rio said it had approved $14 billion for projects in 2012 and said that could increase.

It also said it was raising its iron ore expansion target by 20 million tons to 353 million tons a year by the first half of 2015.

Albanese said prices for copper, coal and other Rio products were "holding up" with the exception of aluminum which is now priced well below the industry's marginal cost of production.

London Metal Exchange-traded three-month aluminum ended at $1,993 a ton in the last session, close to its lowest since July last year of $1,982.25.

In response to toughening market conditions in aluminum, Rio is already making plans to permanently close its Lynemouth smelter in the UK.

It has also put its Australian and New Zealand smelters up for sale and placed its Sebree plant in the U.S. under review.

(Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111127/bs_nm/us_riotinto_outlook

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Mexico catches escapees from island penal colony (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? Six inmates from the last island penal colony in the Americas were recaptured at sea after they used buoyant containers and wood planks to try to swim to freedom in an escape reminiscent of the 1973 movie "Papillon."

The Mexican navy said the inmates used empty plastic gas or water tanks to help stay afloat as they swam about 60 miles (90 kilometers) south of the Islas Marias, a Mexican penal colony where inmates live in small houses and are normally not locked up. Prisoners can tend small gardens and raise food.

The six men were only about 60 miles from the Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta when they were spotted by a passing boat early Thursday.

The boat called in a tip to a local naval base, and patrol boats were quickly dispatched to take the men into custody. Photos provided by the navy showed them men sunburned but alert ? and unhappy ? on the deck of the patrol vessel.

The men, who range in age from 28 to 39 years, were taken back to Puerto Vallarta for a medical check and to be turned back over to prison authorities.

Later, the federal Public Safety Department, which is in charge of Mexico's federal prisons, said the men had been found to be in acceptable health and would be returned to the penal colony "within hours."

The department said the prison oversight agency wasn't notified until Thursday that the men were missing from the prison ? the same day they were found at sea, suggesting that their absence had not been noticed when they set off on the escape bid.

The Islas Marias penal colony lies about 70 miles (110 kilometers) from the mainland, but the prisoners did not swim to the closest shore, which is due east. Instead they apparently swam south, either because prevailing currents carried them that way, they didn't know where they were going, or because they were aiming for Vallarta.

The Pacific ocean forms the main security barrier at the island. While dozens of prisoners are believed to have tried to escape since the penal colony was founded in 1905, local news media reports indicate few, if any, are believed to have made it to the mainland.

The escape bid drew comparisons to the movie "Papillon," in which the main character, played by Steve McQueen, uses a buoyancy device to swim away from a penal colony in French Guyana.

Islas Marias is the last island penal colony in the region.

Panama closed Coiba Island, the only other remaining island penal colony in the Americas, in 2004. That same year, Mexico announced it would spend $2 million to revive the crumbling prison at Islas Marias and increase the inmate population. Normally, about 1,000 to 1,200 inmates are held at the facility.

(This version CORRECTS that the main character in the film is Steve McQueen, not Dustin Hoffman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_penal_colony_escape

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