Fortescue off to slow start in pursuit of fifth export record in a row

afr.com:

Fortescue’s flagship iron ore division has made a slow start to the new financial year, and the company will need to raise its export rate over the next nine months if it is to achieve a fifth consecutive export record.

It says it remains on track to start selling ore from Gabon this year, despite a military coup sparking a regime change in the African nation.

Fortescue had vowed to ship between 192 million tonnes and 197 million tonnes of iron ore in the year ending June 2024, but managed only an annualised rate of about 182 million tonnes in the last quarter.

The company shipped 45.9 million tonnes of iron ore through Port Hedland in the three months, down from 48.9 million tonnes in the previous quarter and 47.5 million in the corresponding period last year.

Fortescue’s bitter rival, Mineral Resources, has blamed “unplanned port maintenance and congestion” at Port Hedland for weaker-than-expected lithium exports from the Wodgina mine.

Fortescue, too, has blamed “maintenance” for its export performance, and says it has been working with low stockpiles of ore at Port Hedland after the very strong export rate achieved in April-June.

But on Thursday, it refused to give up on its full-year export target, suggesting it believes it can step up productivity over the next nine months.

Fortescue received an average of $US100 ($158) a tonne for its product over the past three months; a relatively healthy 87 per cent of the average price achieved for “benchmark” ore with 62 per cent iron.

Although Fortescue’s ore typically contains between 56 per cent and 59 per cent iron, its first batch of Iron Bridge magnetite concentrate shipped in August contained about 67.8 per cent iron.

Fortescue originally promised that Iron Bridge would