Hey Mark,
As one of the largest metal companies in the world, it is certainly one worth looking at if you want to increase your exposure to this area. While it has a diversified portfolio of assets, it is mainly tied to the price of Iron Ore as that is the company's primary metal. The good news is that demand for Iron Ore is projected to grow at a 4.3% CAGR through 2031. That is quite a healthy growth rate.
Worth noting that the price of Iron Ore reach $225 per tonne last summer and likely got a head of itself. It has since retraced to $135 and analysts are calling for prices in the $115 level by end of year. Now, rising production can help taper the lower price and if demand remains strong, we could see higher prices. Aluminum (the second largest production for Rio) is expected to see demand in the high single digits but its price action is very similar to that of Iron Ore. Huge spike last summer, some retracements since then but the difference, is that analysts see Aluminum rising to 3160 per tonne (up from 2940 today) by end of year. So that does bode well for Rio.
All in all, Rio is a good company to target for their long-term exposure to these metals (along with copper to a lesser extent).
Mat