Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX on Thursday forecast higher iron ore shipments for the next year, on hopes of stronger performance at its Eliwana project, and logged record quarterly shipments despite a tight labour market and higher costs.
The Perth-based company’s report comes on the heels of peers Rio Tinto RIO.AX, BHP BHP.AX and a host of other miners flagging labour market issues in the state of Western Australia as new strains of COVID-19 lead to worker absenteeism.
The world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner said it expects 187 million tonnes (Mt) to 192 Mt of shipments for fiscal 2023, compared with 188 Mt shipped in fiscal 2022.
The miner’s ore shipments for fiscal 2022 edged past the 185Mt to 188Mt range it forecast in April.
Fortescue reported a third consecutive year of record shipments, reflecting strong performance across the entire supply chain and the successful integration of Eliwana which commenced operations in January 2021, the miner said.
The iron ore miner said it shipped 49.5 million tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making ingredient in the quarter ended June 30, compared with 49.3 Mt a year ago and a UBS estimate of 49 Mt.
