Australia’s Fortescue lifts iron ore sales in Jan-Mar

Australian metal producer Fortescue shipped 46mn wet metric tonnes (wmt) of iron ore on a 100pc basis in January-March, up by 6.5pc on the year, despite facing weather challenges.

Fortescue left its export guidance for the 2025 financial year ending 30 June unchanged at 190mn-200mn wmt of ore, including 5mn-9mn wmt of magnetite concentrate from its Iron Bridge mine, in its January-March quarterly report on 29 April.

The company sold 143mn wmt of ore, including 4.7mn wmt of Iron Bridge magnetite, in the nine months to 31 March.

Fortescue increased its shipments across every product category on the year in January-March (see table), because of the partial ramp-up of Iron Bridge and an ore car derailment in January-March 2024. These factors offset the impact of multiple cyclone-related port disruptions in Western Australia (WA) over January-February.

Fortescue's Iron Bridge magnetite sales tripled on the yearbut remained flat on the quarter in January-March. The company is reviewing the 22mn t/yr mine's ramp-up schedule and will announce a plan to reach full capacity by late June.

Fortescue originally planned to increase Iron Bridge's output to capacity by September, before it in February backed away from that date. The company improved ore processing circuits at the mine during the last quarter, replacing the lining of air classifiers, Fortescue told investors on 29 April.

Fortescue's iron ore fines products accounted for 55pc of its total sales in January-March, down slightly from 56pc a year earlier. Iron ore fines tend to be less valuable than similarly graded iron ore lumps, as they require additional processing.

Fortescue's iron ore cash costs decreased by 7pc from $18.93/wmt a year earlier to $17.53/wmt, on the back of mine performance improvements. The company left its cash cost guidance for the 2025 financial year unchanged at $18.50-19.75/wmt. Fortescue's cash costs hovered in the upper end of its guidance over the first half of the 2025 financial year, reaching $19.20/wmt.

Many of Fortescue's WA competitors experienced sales declines in January-March, because of cyclone-related disruptions. WA iron ore shipments from global metals firm BHP and UK-Australian producer Rio Tinto declined by 7.8pc and 18pc on the year, respectively, during the quarter.

Argus' iron ore fines 62pc Fe (ICX) cfr Qingdao price has been falling since late-January. It was last assessed at $99.10/t on 28 April, down from $105.25/t on 31 January.

By Avinash Govind

Argus' iron ore cfr Qingdao prices ($/t)