Fortescue profit slips despite record iron ore shipment

Andrew Forrest’s iron ore miner Fortescue shipped a record 96.9 million tonnes in the second half of 2022, but net profit after tax dropped 15 per cent to $3.4 billion due to a falling price for the steel-making ingredient.

A tight labour market in Western Australia, expensive maintenance materials from suppliers still recovering from COVID-19 interruptions and more expensive diesel to power its trucks and trains pushed Fortescue’s cost of producing a tonne of iron ore up 14 per cent to $US17.43 ($25.19) a tonne.