(Reuters) – Australian miner Fortescue posted increased third-quarter iron ore shipments on Thursday according to analyst expectations, as output recovered from a practice derailment in the identical quarter a 12 months earlier.
The iron ore producer, chaired by its billionaire founder Andrew Forrest, posted quarterly iron ore shipments of 46.1 million metric tons (mt), in contrast with 43.3 million mt reported a 12 months earlier. That was largely according to a Seen Alpha consensus estimate of 46.8 million mt.
The uptick in iron ore shipments comes regardless of Fortescue going through important climate disruptions, together with a five-day closure of the port of Port Hedland and operational constraints from Tropical Cyclone Zelia that drove a 7% quarter-on-quarter decline.
Shares of the world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner rose as a lot as 2.1% to a four-week excessive of A$15.8, outperforming a 0.3% rise within the broader mining sector. Fortescue mentioned it continues to assessment the timeline for its Iron Bridge operations to succeed in full manufacturing capability of twenty-two million mt yearly, with an evaluation of key processing tools anticipated to be accomplished by June.
For its inexperienced power division, Fortescue is reassessing growth timeframes for its Arizona Mission within the U.S. and its Queensland-based Gladstone PEM50 Mission, with “higher readability” on exterior elements affecting these initiatives anticipated by June.
The corporate maintained its fiscal 2025 iron ore shipments steerage of 190 million-200 million mt, together with 5 million-9 million mt for Iron Bridge on a 100% foundation. Projected 2025 capital expenditure of $3.5-$3.8 billion additionally stays unchanged.
Fortescue delivered its first T 264 Energy System to mining tools producer Liebherr in the course of the quarter. The system is designed to transform diesel mining vehicles to zero-emission autos as a part of the corporate’s decarbonization efforts.
(Reporting by Roushni Nair and Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru, Melanie Burton in Sydney; Modifying by Shailesh Kuber and Rashmi Aich)
