SYDNEY, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Australian mining giant Fortescue Metals Group Ltd said on Thursday that their 2018 targets are achievable, following a strong showing in their fourth quarter production results.
During the course of the quarter ending in June, the miner shipped 44.7 million tons of iron ore, and said the demand for iron ore and steel remained "strong" during the period, while their steel mill profitability in China remains "high," which encourages their blast furnaces to maximize production.
The chief executive officer of the mining group, Nev Power, said on Thursday that these results demonstrate the "continued excellent performance" of the Australian-listed mining operation.
"In the financial year 2017, we delivered on our targets by shipping 170.4 million tons of iron ore, improving our cash production costs by 17 percent - and generating strong cash margins during a period of volatility in the iron ore price," Power said.
The company retained their 170 million tons of iron ore guidance for 2018, with sustained capital expenditure of 3 U.S. dollars per wet metric ton, subject to exchange rates and inflation.
"Leading into the 2018 financial year, we are well positioned to continue our focus on productivity and efficiency initiatives to improve costs, to invest in the long term sustainability of our core iron ore business, and maintain production levels," Power said.
"Capital management, further strengthening the balance sheet and generating shareholder returns remain our key priorities."
Fortescue currently has a gross debt position of 4.5 billion U.S. dollars, while their cash on hand is sitting at 1.8 billion U.S. dollars.
