Fortescue targets higher 2027 iron ore shipments after record annual exports

 Australian iron ore miner Fortescue (ASX: FMG) on Friday forecast higher shipments in 2027 after delivering record annual exports in 2026, banking on production improvements at its Iron Bridge magnetite mine and core hematite operations.

The world’s No. 4 iron ore miner expects to ship between 197 million metric tonnes (Mt) to 207 Mt of the steel-making commodity in 2027, compared with 201.3 Mt shipped in 2026.

The company is ramping up Iron Bridge towards its 22-million-tonne nameplate capacity while exploring ways to lift port outload capacity, currently seen as the key constraint to volume growth.

For the June quarter, Fortescue shipped 52.7 Mt of iron ore, down 5% from a year earlier but above a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 52.48 Mt.

Hematite C1 unit costs rose 6% from the previous quarter to $19.37 per wet metric tonne, primarily due to higher diesel prices.

“Ongoing volatility in global diesel prices only reinforces the commercial case for eliminating fossil fuels from our operations,” Fortescue Metals and Operations Chief Executive Dino Otranto said.

(Reporting by Jasmeen Ara Shaikh and Nichiket Sunil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)