Fortescue Metals News

Classification society DNV presented Australian green technology, energy and metals company Fortescue with class and statutory certificates for its dual-fueled ammonia-powered vessel Green Pioneer. This marked the culmination of a project that began in 2021, when DNV was engaged by Fortescue to work on the feasibility study and 'Fuel ready (Ammonia)' notation for the vessel’s conversion. DNV's Technology Qualification process provided the framework for the qualification and assurance of the engine modifications, where industry rules were yet to be developed.

Fortescue Metals executive chairman Andrew Forrest on Tuesday said his charitable foundation is in favor of a pause on seabed mining, the first time a prominent mining executive has spoken out against the nascent industry.Forrest said the Minderoo Foundation, which he and his wife Nicola fund with the dividends they get from Fortescue, will back a pause until there's sufficient evidence that damage to ocean environments can be prevented.Seabed mining would involve vacuuming up potato-sized rocks rich in battery metals that blanket vast swathes of the sea floor at depths of 4-6 kilometres…

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index fell for a 13th straight session on Tuesday, dragged lower by weaker rates across all vessel segments.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, fell 48 points, or 3.5%, to 1,343, its lowest since mid-February 2021.The capesize index dropped 91 points, or 10.9%, to 745, its lowest since June 2020.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, dropped by $755 to $6,180.Iron ore futures in China and Singapore rose on Tuesday after miner Fortescue Met

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index eased on Thursday, but still gained about 53% for the quarter on the back of robust demand for dry bulk vessels, especially capesizes.The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize vessels, fell 30 points, to 5,167, from the 13-year peak it scaled on Wednesday.Most of the quarterly gains were driven by the strength in the capesize segment, which transports 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal.

KOTUG Australia Pty Ltd  (KOTUG) and WESTUG PTY Ltd (Westug) have successfully concluded an agreement to re-shape the towage services for Pilbara Marine, a subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) in Port Hedland. The service includes the operation of nine state of the art Rotortugs at Port Hedland, which have been servicing Fortescue and other port users since the commencement of operations in 2019.After almost three years of working together to successfully establish the towage service for Fortescue in Port Hedland…

Australia's Fortescue Metals Group Ltd on Thursday narrowly beat its full-year estimate for iron ore shipments after a record fourth quarter, as strong demand from top consumer China offset the impact of bad weather.The world's fourth-largest iron ore miner fared better than rivals Rio Tinto and BHP, whose June quarter output dropped because of weather disruptions in Western Australia.Despite those disruptions, surging prices of the steelmaking ingredient and robust demand from China are expected to drive bumper earnings at miners…

Benchmark Asian iron ore futures rose on Thursday as data showed monthly shipments of the steelmaking ingredient to China from Australia's Port Hedland dropped to the lowest in two years.Shipments from Port Hedland, the world's biggest iron ore export hub, totalled 30.73 million tonnes in February, when top steel producer China typically imports less due to the Lunar New Year holidays.That is the lowest since March 2019 and compares with 35.6 million tonnes in January and 33.3 million tonnes in February last year…

The global iron ore market is likely to remain robust for some time, given supply concerns and stronger-than-usual demand from top consumer China, Fortescue Metals Group Chief Executive Elizabeth Gaines said on Thursday."Not only in China, but the ex-China activity is also picking up to pre-COVID levels," she told a media call. "Our view is that the market will remain robust for some time."In China, activity rates didn't slow as much as is normal for the Lunar New Year because not as many workers returned home, she said.

Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland rose by 16% in December from a month earlier, despite a short weather-related shutdown, the Pilbara Ports Authority said on Friday. Iron ore exports to China rose to 40.0 million tonnes from 34.44 million tonnes in November, data from the authority showed. Total iron ore exports from Port Hedland rose to 46.5 million tonnes from 41.61 million tonnes in November. Strong shipments from the world's largest iron ore export…

Fortescue Metals Group said on Tuesday it was assessing prospects to build an ammonia plant in the southern island state of Tasmania, as part of its push to become a major renewable energy producer.The project would include a 250-megawatt hydrogen plant at the Bell Bay Industrial Precinct with green ammonia production capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year for domestic and international export, Fortescue said in a statement.Bell Bay is about 41 km (26 miles) northwest of the city of Launceston.The project is targeted for an investment decision by the Fortescue Board in 2021…

Australian defense personnel are being deployed to Port Hedland, one of the world’s largest iron ore loading ports, to help contain a coronavirus outbreak on a bulk carrier that last changed crews in the major seafaring city of Manila.Seventeen of the 21 crew from the Patricia Oldendorff carrier have tested positive for the virus, ship owner Oldendorff Carriers said in a statement.Ten of the infected crew members have been moved to hotel quarantine, and seven remain on board as part of a nine-person crew, authorities said.Oldendorff said the crew change on September 5 in Manila complied with all protocols.“All crew members tested negative for the virus before leaving the Philippines…

Australia's shipments of iron ore to China from the world's top export hub of Port Hedland jumped to 38.7 mln tonnes in April, data from the port authority showed on Friday.Shipments were up by 10.6% from a year earlier, although they shrank by 4.2% from March's figure of 40.43 million tonnes, the data showed.

Miner BHP Group said on Tuesday it plans to expand its iron ore export capacity from Port Hedland, the largest global shipping hub for the steel-making commodity, by up to 40 million tonnes a year to 330 million tonnes a year.The move comes as improvements across BHP’s supply chain have opened the way to raise shipments if market conditions allow, Tim Day, BHP’s Acting Asset President Western Australia Iron Ore, said in a statement.The company has begun community consultation…

Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal, the world's biggest iron ore port, fell more than 5% in September from a month earlier, port data showed on Tuesday.Shipments to China totalled 36.05 million tonnes in September, down from 38.14 million tonnes in August, the Pilbara Ports Authority said.Overall iron ore shipments totalled 41.97 million tonnes in September, down more 7% from 45.43 million tonnes in August.Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners: BHP Group, Fortescue Metals Group and Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill.Reporting by Colin Packh

Perth-based Harbor towage operator, Westug Pty Ltd (Westug) has announced their successful start with the OptiPort AI-assisted Dispatch system in its new Port Hedland operation to ensure long-term, efficient and sustainable towage services in the port on behalf of KOTUG for Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue). The announcement was made alongside the official start of Westug’s towage operations in the world’s leading and largest dry bulk export port with an annual export volume of over 500 million tons of iron ore…

With the successful start an important milestone has been reached in the execution of the contract to operate the tugboat fleet for Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) in Port Hedland, a bulk export port on Australia´s west coast. The fleet consists of eight new ART 85-32W and one RT80-32 Rotortugs. Six of them are Fortescue owned, three are owned by KOTUG, which are chartered directly to Fortescue. KOTUG manages the entire contract.Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, is the site of the highest tonnage port in Australia.

Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal fell more than 8 percent in March from a month earlier, port data released on Friday showed.Iron ore shipments to China from the world's biggest iron ore port totaled 30.7 million tonnes in March, compared with February's 33.5 million metric tons, the Pilbara Ports Authority said.Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners, BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.Shipments were affected by tropical cyclone Veronica, which hit Western Australia in late March.

Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal rose 5.3 percent in September from a month earlier, port data released on Wednesday showed.Iron ore shipments to China from the world's biggest iron ore port totaled 37.4 million tonnes in September, up from August's 35.5 million metric tons, according to the Pilbara Ports Authority.Total September iron ore shipments from the port totaled 43.5 million metric tons, up from 42.4 million metric tons in August.Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners, BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Gina Rineha

Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal rose nearly 10 percent in August from a month earlier, port data released on Monday showed.Iron ore shipments to China from the world's biggest iron ore port totalled 35.5 million tonnes in August, up from July's 32.4 million tonnes, according to the Pilbara Ports Authority.Total August iron ore shipments from the port totalled 42.4 million tonnes, higher than the 40.7 million tonnes shipped a month prior, but 1 pct lower than August 2017.Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners, BHP Billiton , Fort

Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal rose 7 percent to 39.69 million tonnes in June from a month earlier, port data released on Tuesday showed.Total June iron ore shipments from the world's biggest export terminal for the steelmaking raw material totalled 47.29 million tonnes, compared with 44.97 million tonnes in May, according to the Pilbara Ports Authority.Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners, BHP Billiton , Fortescue Metals Group and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.Rio Tinto uses the nearby Dampier and Cape Lambert ports to

Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal in May rose 2.4 percent from a month earlier to 37 million tonnes, port data released on Monday showed.Iron ore shipments to China in April stood at 36.1 million tonnes.Overall iron ore shipments from the world's biggest export terminal rose to 45 million tonnes in May from 42.6 million tonnes in the previous month, the Pilbara Ports Authority said.Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners - BHP Billiton , Fortescue Metals Group and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Edi

The seaborne iron ore market appears to be in something of a sweet spot currently, with largely steady demand and prices that have been flatlining for the past couple of months. Of course, another way of saying that a market is enjoying relatively stable and good times is that it's boring, but in iron ore there is plenty of action bubbling beneath the seemingly calm exterior. It's not so much that iron ore prices or volumes are expected to shift dramatically in the coming months, it's more that structural changes in the world's biggest importer, China, are re-shaping how the industry works.

Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal fell nearly 10 percent in February to 31.3 million tonnes, down from 34.7 million tonnes a month earlier, port data released on Thursday showed. Overall August iron ore shipments from the world's biggest export terminal for the steelmaking raw material fell to 38.5 million tonnes in February from 41.1 million tonnes in January, according to the Pilbara Ports Authority. Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners, BHP Billiton , Fortescue Metals Group and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.