Australian iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group announced on October 14 that in the third quarter of 2010 its iron ore shipments totaled 10.26 million metric tons, decreasing by seven percent quarter on quarter but up eight percent as compared to the corresponding period of 2009, as the company's customer base keeps growing beyond China, Europe and South Korea, now including Japan and Australia. The average price for the second quarter was approximately US$125/dwt CFR.
The aggregate 11.05 million mt of iron ore mined in the third quarter dropped three percent quarter on quarter but was up by seven percent in comparison to the same period last year, Fortescue said. Total ore processed during the third quarter was down seven percent but was up two percent year on year, at the level of 9.75 million mt.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Fortescue recently secured a US$2 billion loan to proceed with its gigantic expansion plan.