Australia's Fortescue Defies Weather Woes With Record Q3 Iron Ore Shipments

(Romero.my.id) - On Thursday, Australian mining company Fortescue announced increased iron ore shipments for the third quarter, aligning with analysts' forecasts. This uptick was due to a rebound in production following a train derailment during the corresponding period last year.

The company producing iron ore, led by its billionaire creator Andrew Forrest, announced quarterley deliveries of 46.1 million metric tons of iron ore, up from 43.3 million metric tons recorded in the previous year. This figure closely matched the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 46.8 million metric tons.

Despite experiencing considerable weather-related challenges such as a five-day shutdown at the Port Hedland harbor and limitations due to Tropical Cyclone Zelia, which resulted in a 7% decrease compared to the previous quarter, Fortescue has seen an increase in iron ore exports.

The stock price of the global fourth-largest iron ore producer surged up to 2.1%, reaching a one-month peak at A$15.8, which exceeded the 0.3% gain seen across the larger mining industry. Fortescue mentioned they are still assessing the schedule for their Iron Bridge project to achieve complete annual output of 22 million metric tons, anticipating that evaluations of critical processing machinery will conclude by June.

For its renewable energy sector, Fortescue is reconsidering the timelines for developing its Arizona project in the United States and its Gladstone PEM50 initiative based in Queensland. The company anticipates gaining clearer insights into the external elements impacting these ventures by June.

The firm kept its financial year 2025 forecast for iron ore deliveries at 190 million to 200 million metric tons, with an inclusion of 5 million to 9 million metric tons from Iron Bridge calculated on a full ownership basis. Additionally, their projected spending budget for the year 2025 continues to be set between $3.5 billion and $3.8 billion.

During the quarter, Fortescue supplied its initial T 264 Power System to Liebherr, a producer of mining gear. This technology aims to transform traditional diesel-powered mining trucks into emission-free models, aligning with the firm's objectives for reducing carbon emissions.

(Reported by Roushni Nair and Adwitiya Srivastava in Bangalore, Melanie Burton from Sydney; Edited by Shailesh Kuber and Rashmi Aich)