Australia: FMG's iron ore production, shipments drop in CY'23

Australia's leading miner, Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), has released its operational results for the December quarter. Iron ore shipments in the calendar year 2023 (CY'23) were recorded at 189.8 million tonnes (mnt), down 2% y-o-y compared to 192.9 mnt in CY'22.

Total ore mined for the whole calendar year fell to 214.2 mnt, down 5% y-o-y compared to 225.6 mnt in CY22.

Shipments rise, production falls

• Shipments increased by 6% to 48.7 mnt q-o-q in Q4CY'23 from 45.9 mnt in the previous quarter. However, on y-o-y basis, shipments inched down by 1% as against 49.4 mnt in Q4CY'22.
  
  
• Total ore mined decreased by 2% q-o-q to 55 mnt compared to 56.2 mnt in Q3CY'23. On y-o-y basis, it decreased by 8% compared to 60 mnt in Q4 CY'22.
  
  
• Volume references are based on wet metric tonnes (wmt).
  
  

Shipment guidance for FY'24: Based on the continued strong operating performance in Q4CY23, the guidance for iron ore shipments increased to 192-197 mnt.

Cost guidance for FY'24: Cost guidance marginally increased to $18.00-19/wmt.

Highlights

• The company shipped the first product from the Belinga Iron Ore Project in Gabon, the first time the company has exported iron ore from a port outside of Australia.
  
  
• Iron Bridge FY'24 shipment guidance has been revised due to malfunctioning of the Raw Water Pipeline. Work is underway to resolve performance issues.
  
  
• Iron Bridge commissioning activities continue to progress. A second shipment of Iron Bridge concentrate was achieved during Q4CY'23 and three shipments in January this year.
  
  

FMG's Chief Executive Officer, Dino Otranto said, "We continue to deliver strong operational performance while making tangible progress towards our ambitious decarbonization and green energy targets.

"It's been another strong quarter with iron ore shipments of 48.7 million tonnes contributing to our second highest first half year shipments of 94.6 million tonnes. We achieved this while continuing to grow our green technology, energy and metals businesses, keeping costs low and maintaining our safety performance.

"Our energy business marked a significant milestone, with final investment decisions announced for green hydrogen projects in Australia and the USA. This reflected our disciplined approach to capital allocation and clear intention to learn prior to committing to large scale investments," Dino Otranto said.