Australian mining firm Atlas Iron plans to ship 12.2mn-12.8mn t of iron ore in the 2014-15 fiscal ending 30 June compared with the 10.9mn t it shipped in 2013-14 as its Mount Webber mine increases production.
This guidance is unchanged from forecasts made last month. Atlas plans to ship 12mn-12.2mn t of standard fines, with the rest coming from value fines. The all-in cash cost for the iron ore shipment guidance is $64-$69/ on a wet metric tonne (wmt) cfr basis. This is down on the 2013-14 average cost for delivered volumes to China of A$76.80t ($71.40/wmt) and all-in cash costs A$76.40 ($71.05/wmt).
The average moisture levels in its iron ore fines will fall to 5pc in 2014-15 from the 6.3pc average in 2013-14, Atlas said.
The company also plans to lower capital expenditure in 2014-15 to A$125mn from A$372mn in 2013-14, with A$40mn of this spending on Mount Webber mine stage one and stage two expansion in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The stage one production forecast of 3mn t/yr started output in July this year, with production rising to 6mn t/yr in stage two.
Atlas posted a profit of A$14.3mn in 2013-14 from a loss of A$245.1mn in 2012-13. Revenues rose to A$1.10bn in 2013-14 from A$695.1mn in 2012-13 as iron ore shipments rose to 10.9mn t from 7.4mn t in the same period. The increase in revenues came with higher volumes shipped amid falling iron ore prices.
The average price per tonne received on a deadweight tonnes (dwt) cfr basis for its standard fines was A$100.5/t in 2013-14 from A$107.8/t in 2012-13, Atlas said. The average price received on a DMT cfr basis for Atlas value fines was A$98.10/t against A$104.9/t a year earlier.
km/rjd
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