Jan 27, 2023

Advertisement Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group shipped a record amount of iron ore in the December quarter as the miner enters a year when it is expected to deliver on its green energy promises that now include manufacturing batteries. Forrest said after some 100 meetings at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos it was clear to the company that the demand for green energy was immense. Andrew Forrest said Fortescue will save $1 billion a year when its Pilbara mines switch to renewable energy. Credit:World Economic Forum “This gives us confidence that global capital markets will be aligned to progress five Fortescue Future Industries green energy projects to final investment decision in calendar 2023 allowing first production in 2024,” he said. Forrest’s pivot from iron ore to clean energy was based on the production of hydrogen from renewable energy, but he has now added batteries “as a preeminent focus.” UK-based Williams Advanced Engineering which Fortescue bought in 2022 will commission its manufacturing facility in April. Loading “To accelerate and globalise this transition, Mark Hutchinson has been appointed chairman, tasked with growing WAE into a multi-billion dollar green technology, battery and vehicle control systems company,” he said. The Pilbara iron business that bankrolls FFI achieved record December quarter shipments to 49.4 million tonnes at an average revenue of $US87 a dry tonne. Forrest said there was significant interest from the market in the iron ore concentrate Iron Bridge will produce that is on track to start production in March. Advertisement “We are now nearing the 200 million tonne annualised rate in our iron ore business even before we commission Iron Bridge,” Forrest said. Iron Bridge - Fortescue’s first foray into processing magnetite ore rather than just shipping raw haematite ore - is on track to start producing by March. The final cost to be shared with Taiwanese partner Formosa Steel is expected to be close to $US3.8 billion ($5.3 billion), at the top end of the most recent guidance but much higher than the $US2.6 billion estimate when the project was sanctioned. Guidance for financial year 2023 was unchanged including iron ore shipments of 187 to 192 million tonnes. Fortescue rose 2.6 per to $23.07 a share in early trading on Friday. More to come The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon . Save