Australia: FMG's iron ore shipments fall by over 10% q-o-q in Q3CY'24

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), Australia's leading miner, has released its operational results for third quarter of 2024 (Q3CY'24). Iron ore shipments in Q3CY'24 were recorded at 47.7 million tonnes (mnt), down by 11% q-o-q compared to 53.7 mnt in Q2CY'24. However, on a y-o-y basis, iron ore shipments increased by around 4% compared to 45.9 mnt in Q3CY'23. Meanwhile, in 9MCY'24 (January-September 2024), iron ore shipments rose by 3% to 144.7 mnt as against 141.1 mnt in the same period last year.

Iron ore production down 3% in Q3CY'24

Total iron ore production witnessed a 3% q-o-q drop to 57.1 mnt in Q3CY'24 as against 59 mnt in Q2CY'24. Meanwhile, production went up marginally by 2% y-o-y as compared to 56.2 mnt in Q3CY'23.

Additionally, output increased by 2% to 162.7 mnt in 9MCY'24 as against 159.2 mnt in 9MCY'23.

Volume references are based on wet metric tonnes (wmt).

Shipment guidance for FY'25: The guidance for iron ore shipments for the miner for FY'25 remained unchanged at 190-200 mnt.

Cost guidance for FY'25: Cost guidance remain unchanged at $18.50-19.75/wmt.

Highlights

• Exploration and drilling efforts are ongoing at the Belinga Iron Ore Project in Gabon, with over 70,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling and 10,000 metres of diamond core drilling completed to date.
  
  
• Iron ore exploration in the Pilbara is progressing, with drilling programmes underway at Mindy South, White Knight, and Wyloo North. Additionally, near-mine exploration remains a key priority at the Chichester and Solomon Hubs.
  
  

FMG's Chief Executive Officer, Dino Otranto said, "Fortescue had a strong start to FY25with record first quarter iron ore shipments of 47.7Mt, which included 1.6Mt from Iron Bridge. This was achieved while maintaining our focus on safety with a Group TRIFR of 1.2. This strong operating performance means we are on track to meet our FY25 market guidance.

"Importantly, we also celebrated a number of other milestones including the commencement of works at our Green Metal Project at Christmas Creek which marks a pivotal moment in our journey to build a green metal supply chain.

Fortescue Energy Chief Executive Officer, Mark Hutchinson said: "It has been an extremely successful quarter for our green technology team, as we unveiled our autonomous battery-electric T 264 truck to the world. We topped off the milestone by also signing one of the biggest equipment deals on record, a US$2.8 billion partnership with Liebherr to jointly develop and validate a range of zero emission equipment solutions for mining and heavy industry. Under the agreement, the equipment will be powered by the battery power system developed by Fortescue Zero."