Ferrexpo iron ore pellet output up in second quarter

Swiss-Ukrainian iron ore producer Ferrexpo produced 2.8mn t of iron ore pellets in the second quarter, up by 11.6pc on the year and by 10.8pc from the first quarter.

The firm's first-half production reached 5.35mn t, up by 5.3pc year on year, with output of 65pc Fe pellets up by 7.8pc to 5.14mn t, while production of 62pc Fe pellets was down by 32.2pc to 215,000t.

The average price the firm received for pellets sold in the first half of 2019 increased by 29pc compared with the average price in 2018. The Argus ICX 62pc index averaged $91.42/dry metric tonne (dmt) in the first half of 2019, up from an average price of $69.38/dmt for 2018, bolstered by demand and supply tightness.

The company's production cost for the first half of 2019 is expected to be $46/t, up from $43/t in 2018, as a result of Ukrainian inflation and the strengthening of the Hryvnia against the US dollar.

Ferrexpo has retained its production guidance of 10.6mn t for 2019, largely unchanged from 2018. This is because of disruption from a planned 75-day pellet line shutdown in the second half of the year.

The producer supplies pellet to mills in Europe and east and southeast Asia.