Australia's third-biggest iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (Fortescue) has announced its operating results for the second quarter of the current year. Fortescue CEO Nev Power pointed out that the company cut costs by 18 percent in the given quarter and forecast iron ore prices in the range of $110-$130/mt for the rest of 2013. "We maintain our confidence in China and believe they will continue their urbanization and industrialization process which will continue to drive steel demand and therefore iron ore demand," said Power.
Fortescue said in its statement that its total iron ore shipments during the June quarter increased by 40 percent year on year to 25 million mt. In the given quarter, Fortescue's total processed iron ore volume increased to 22.6 million mt, up by 44 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
According to Fortescue's statement, production costs for the quarter decreased to $36.01/mt from $43.61/mt in the previous quarter.
According to Fortescue, expansion projects remain on budget and schedule to initially achieve production at the 155 million mt per year run rate across the supply chain by end of December 2013 and sustainably produce at 155 million mt per year in March 2014.