Mining major Fortescue Metals Group has lifted iron ore shipments in the December quarter but flagged a slight slippage in the timeline for its Iron Bridge magnetite project in Western Australia.
Australia's third biggest iron ore exporter on Friday reported shipments of 49.4 million tonnes in the December quarter, a four per cent increase from a year earlier.
Fortescue's ore realised an average $US 86.93 a dry metric tonne, or roughly 88 per cent of the average benchmark price for the 62 per cent grade iron ore.
Cash costs were up 12 per cent from a year ago to $17.17 per wet metric tonne.
The company had $US4 billion in cash at the end of December, while gross debt was unchanged at $US6.1 billion.
"We are now nearing the 200 million tonne annualised rate in our iron ore business even before we commission Iron Bridge," executive chairman Andrew Forrest said.
"Demand for Fortescue's suite of iron ore products remains strong and our entry into the higher-grade segment of the market has been well received, with significant interest in the Iron Bridge magnetite concentrate."
The company says the first shipment from Iron Bridge will happen before the end of March, although it will ship less than a million tonnes of high grade concentrate. At full capacity, the project is expected to deliver 22 million tonnes of concentrate.
Fortescue has pledged to eliminate fossil fuel use and achieve zero emissions by 2030. It has been boosting spending at its green arm Fortescue Future Industries, through deployment of renewable energy generation and battery storage as well as a green mining fleet and locomotives.
"Fortescue will step beyond fossil fuels this decade, saving shareholders approximately US$1 billion a year and setting the global stage for all environmentally responsible companies to follow," Mr Forrest said.
Fortescue shares were down 0.5 per cent to $22.37 by 1400 AEDT.
