Top four iron ore miner happy with early-year shipments
Fortescue set a new standard by shipping 49.7 million tonnes of iron ore in the last quarter, ensuring a strong start to the financial year.
The Perth-based miner is the world’s fourth largest supplier of iron ore.
The result for the first three months of 2025/26 is four percent higher than the same period last year, marking a record first quarter.
However, there was a 10 percent decrease compared to the last quarter of 2024/25.
Operations chief Dino Otranto described the result as “a strong start to the year”.
While Fortescue is expected to supply 195-205 million tonnes, of which 10-12 million tonnes will be from its Iron Bridge operation in Western Australia, its expectations for the full year remain unchanged.
Fortescue also increased its cash position to US$4.6 billion ($7.1 billion), primarily due to prepayments and reductions in term loan facilities in the US and China.
Gross debt increased by 20 percent to US$6.5 billion ($10 billion), while net debt rose to US$1.9 billion.
The miner is also maintaining a pipeline of green energy projects, Mr. Otranto said.
“We achieved significant milestones this quarter, including the successful syndication of a Renminbi-denominated term loan and the establishment of new global partnerships that will help us achieve profitable decarbonization,” he said.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
