Australian iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has announced that its iron ore shipments in the fourth quarter ending June 30 of the financial year 2013-14 totaled 38.7 million mt, increasing by 54.8 percent year on year. In June alone, Fortescue registered 13.3 million mt of iron ore shipments, indicating a record annualized run rate of 160 million mt. During the full financial year, Fortescue shipped 124.2 million mt of iron ore below the earlier guidance of 127 million mt.
According to Fortescue, index prices declined in the June 2014 quarter as a result of volatility driven by significant new iron ore supply entering the market. Fortescue expects the iron ore market to rebalance in the short term as higher-cost production leaves the market flattening the global cost curve and stabilizing the price.
The US$9.2 billion expansion to 155 million mt per year is now complete with capital expenditure in the financial year 2013-14 slightly below guidance at US$1.9 billion. US$100 million has been deferred into the financial year 2014-15 giving an estimated capital expenditure for the financial year 2014-15 of US$1.3 billion, excluding capital associated with the fully funded Stage One Iron Bridge joint venture.