Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) delivered a record 90.7mn mt of iron ore shipments in H1 FY21 (July-Dec, 2020), up by 2pc from the prior-year period, surpassing any half-year since Fortescue’s inception, the company said in its quarterly report.
In Q2 FY21 (Oct-Dec, 2020), the company’s iron ore shipments stood at 46.4mn mt, up by 4.7pc as compared to the previous quarter (Q1 FY21) but remained unchanged as compared to the same period in the preceding fiscal.
The company said that it has been well-placed to meet a sustained strength in demand for iron ore.
In Q2 FY21, the company’s mined ore output stood at 50mn wet metric tonnes (wmt), down by 14pc from 58.4mn wmt in Q1 and by 8pc as compared to 54.6mn wmt in the prior-year period.
The company processed 44.2mn mt of iron ore in Q2 FY21, registering a decline of 4pc as compared to 46mn mt in Q1 FY21 and down by 4pc from 46.2mn mt in the same period in FY20.
In December 2020, the company began processing ore and commissioning trains at the Eliwana mine, a major step forward in the development of its iron ore operations in the Western Hub region of the Pilbara.
Apart from that, the company also completed the construction and installation of the wet high-intensity magnetic separation (WHIMS) plant at the Christmas Creek ore processing facility in Q2 FY21. The plant throughput is forecast to ramp up to its installed capacity and expected yield in H2 FY21.
FMG wholly-owned Chinese sales entity FMG Trading Shanghai Co Ltd sold 3.0mt in Q2 FY21 from regional ports in China with total sales of 5.8mt in H1 FY21.
Outlook
The company said that it is continuing to deliver strong results for FY21 across all key measures of safety, production, and cost. It has retained its iron ore shipment guidance for FY21 between 175mn mt and 180mn mt.