Fortescue half-year profit jumps on record shipments

Reuters | February 24, 2026 | 1:51 pm Top Companies Australia Iron Ore

Fortescue to ship first iron ore from Gabon by year-end

(Image courtesy of Fortescue Metals Group.)

Australia’s Fortescue reported a 23% rise in first-half profit on Wednesday, powered by record iron ore shipments and higher realized prices for the commodity.

Iron ore shipments in the first half rose more than 3% to a record 100.2 million metric tons, the world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner said.

Fortescue sold its iron ore for about $90.87 per dry metric ton (dmt), up from $85.24 per dmt a year ago.

The company reported an underlying net profit after tax attributable of $1.91 billion for the six months ended December 31, missing the Visible Alpha estimate of $1.98 billion, but above the $1.55 billion profit it posted a year earlier.

Fortescue has deepened ties with China at a time when iron ore majors are trying to negotiate with state-backed buyer China Minerals Resources Group that has restricted shipments from bigger rival BHP.

The company declared a final dividend of 62 Australian cents per share, higher than the 50 Australian cents apiece announced last year.

(By Sneha Kumar; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)