Iron ore shipments of Australian miner Mineral Resources dropped to 4.11mn wmt in Q3FY2021 (January-March), down by 6pc from Q2 as border closures hit transportation of ore. Compared to the prior year, Q3 shipments increased by 42pc due to a lower base in Q3FY2020.
A shortage of haulage truck drivers due to the unplanned closure of state borders constrained transportation of iron ore from the mines. In Q2 and Q3, the miner produced 10.1mn wmt of iron ore but shipped only 8.5mn wmt due to border closures. MinRes lowered its FY2021 iron ore shipment guidance to 17.4mn-18.0mn wmt from earlier expectation of 19.5mn-20.5m wmt amid uncertainty around the resolution of haulage issues.
Iron ore production in Q3 was 4.94mn wmt down by 3pc from Q2 FY2021 and up 44pc from the prior-year quarter as per mine plans. Crushed iron ore stockpiles on site increased to 1.4mn wmt as of March 31, 2021.
In Q3, the average realised iron ore price rose to $144.8/dmt, up by 5pc from Q2.
| MinRes’s production and shipment in Q3 FY2021 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit: mn wmt | Q3FY2021 | Q3FY2020 | Change YoY | Q2FY2020 | Change MoM |
| Produced | 4.942 | 3.436 | 44% | 5.099 | -3% |
| Shipped | 4.117 | 2.897 | 42% | 4.364 | -6% |
Key developments
* MinRes commenced iron ore shipments from the annual 5mn mt capacity Wonmunna mine in Q3
* Commissioned three crushing plants; one at the Wonmunna plant and another at a third-party site, while the third, a NextGen 2 plant at Mount Whaleback. The combined annual capacity of these three plants is 31mn mt.