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Fortescue Metal Group, Australia’s third-largest iron ore producer, shipped 15.4 million tonnes of iron ore during the September quarter, down 10% from the June quarter.
But shipments were up 26% on an annual basis.
The miner achieved an annualised shipping rate of more than 64 million tonnes during the quarter, which exceeded its guidance, despite disruption from maintenance and expansion activities, it said in its September quarter report on Tuesday October 16.
FMB’s port infrastructure capacity increased to 115 million tpy in September after the commissioning of the second train unloader, which is in preparation for the output expansion at Christmas Creek and the ramping up at Solomon’s Firetail project by March 2013.
The plunge of iron ore prices and increasing cost forced FMG to seek $5 billion in refinancing for its expansions.
Direct cost at FMG’s standing operations stood at $49.44 per tonne during the quarter, up 7.4% from the previous quarter due to the appreciation of the Australian dollar and a higher strip ratio.
FMG said its average realised sales price of iron ore was $98 per tonne, in line with the global market decline by almost $30 per tonne from the previous quarter.
The miner expects production cost to remain at $45-50 per tonne for the fiscal year 2013, but it could drop to $30 per tonne when Solomon reaches its full production capacity of 60 million tpy, including 40 million tpy from the Kings deposit.