Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) shares are on the move on Tuesday after investors responded positively to the release of its third quarter update.
At the time of writing, the iron ore giant's shares are up 2.5% to $15.87.
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Fortescue shares higher on quarterly update
For the three months ended 31 March, Fortescue mined 55.5 million tonnes of ore, up 19% on the prior corresponding period. This was driven by higher volumes from both its Hematite Operations and Iron Bridge project.
Total ore processed came in 12% higher year on year at 47.6 million tonnes. This means that over the nine months to 31 March, Fortescue processed a record 146.7 million tonnes, which is up 5% year on year.
Iron ore shipments also impressed. The company shipped 46.1 million tonnes during the quarter, a 6% increase over last year. This was despite facing several significant weather events, including a five-day closure of the Port of Port Hedland. On a nine-month basis, shipments hit 143.2 million tonnes, another record and up 4% on the prior corresponding period.
Shipments from Iron Bridge contributed 1.5 million tonnes in third quarter, with a total of 4.7 million tonnes shipped so far this financial year. While Iron Bridge was impacted by Tropical Cyclone Zelia, Fortescue ended the quarter with healthy stockpiles at both the mine and the port.
One negative, though, is that the ramp-up at Iron Bridge to its nameplate capacity of 22 million tonnes per annum remains under review. An assessment of its air classification circuit and downstream conveyors is expected to be completed in the current quarter.
Costs down
Fortescue continued to perform well with its costs. Hematite C1 costs fell to US$17.53 per wet metric tonne, down 4% from the previous quarter and 7% lower than a year earlier.
Management credited the improvement to favourable currency movements, a lower strip ratio, and strong operational execution.
In light of this, all cost guidance (and shipments) for FY 2025 remains unchanged.
Commenting on the quarter, Fortescue Metals CEO, Dino Otranto, said:
We achieved another solid quarterly production result, shipping 46.1 million tonnes of iron ore while maintaining our outstanding safety performance. This was a particularly impressive achievement, as the team safely and effectively navigated several significant weather events in the quarter. With record shipments achieved for the nine months leading up to 31 March 2025, we remain on track to deliver on our full year guidance.
During the quarter, we also completed the acquisition of Red Hawk Mining which supports our strategy to continually optimise our iron ore operations in the Pilbara, giving us the flexibility to enhance our future mine plan.
Fortescue shares remain down 38% since this time last year.
