Australian iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has announced that its iron ore shipments in the quarter ended March 31 totaled 38.7 million mt, declining by four percent compared to the previous quarter and down two percent from the same period of the previous financial year.
According to Fortescue, during the March quarter it mined 41.6 million mt of iron ore, down 12 percent from the previous quarter and declining by seven percent year on year.
Fortescue stated that, in the given quarter, mining, processing, rail and shipping performance was broadly in line with expectations and lower than the previous quarter due to cyclone activity impacting port operations together with planned extended maintenance, equipment downtime and wet weather at the mines. The company remains on target to achieve around 170 million mt of iron ore shipments in the full financial year of 2017-18.