Credit: REUTERS/MELANIE BURTONAdds details on results
Oct 29 (Reuters) - Australia's Fortescue Metals Group Ltd FMG.AX posted a 5% rise in first-quarter iron ore shipments on Thursday, as demand in China for the steelmaking ingredient remained robust.
Despite a coronavirus-induced slump in demand for most commodities this year, iron ore prices have remained buoyant as China, the world's top metals user, ramped up infrastructure spending to counter the economic shock from curbs to contain the virus.
The world's fourth-largest iron ore miner said its ore fetched $105.77 per dry metric tonne (dmt) in the quarter, compared to $85 per dmt a year earlier.
Improving conditions in China have also helped larger peer BHP BHP.AX report higher iron ore output, but a resurgence in coronavirus cases elsewhere had led miner Rio Tinto RIO.AX to warn that global economic growth was still at risk.
However, Fortescue struck an upbeat tone and said it was "well-positioned" to meet its full-year iron ore shipment forecast of 175 million tonnes to 180 million tonnes (Mt).
The Perth-based miner shipped 44.3 Mt of the steel-making material in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 42.2 Mt a year earlier, and in line with UBS estimates of 44.1 Mt.
(Reporting by Anushka Trivedi & A K Pranav in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Shounak Dasgupta)
((Pranav.AK@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @AKPranav1; +918061823270))
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