Australian iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group on Tuesday posted a 2% rise in second-quarter shipments, but flagged pressures from strong demand for labour and resources, as well as supply chain constraints due to the pandemic.
The world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner shipped 47.5 million tonnes (mt) of the steel-making commodity in the December quarter, compared with 46.4 mt a year earlier.
Bigger rivals BHP Group and Rio Tinto have also warned of disruptions from coronavirus-induced labour shortages as Australia faces a surge of Omicron cases.
The slightly upbeat production result came against the backdrop of stricter environmental and production controls as well as a property sector crisis in China, which have weighed on forecast for steel demand.
Fortescue, run by billionaire Andrew Forrest, left its annual shipments forecast unchanged.
(By Indranil Sarkar; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Sriraj Kalluvila)