China-Australia relations: global iron ore market to ‘remain robust for some time’, says Fortescue CEO
- Fortescue Metals Group reported their net profit after tax for the first-half of the year was US$4.08 billion, up from US$2.45 billion a year earlier
- China’s focus on infrastructure last year drove a more than 50 per cent rise in the price of iron ore, which reached a record in December on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange
“Not only in China, but the ex-China activity is also picking up to pre-Covid levels,” she said. “Our view is that the market will remain robust for some time.”
In China, activity rates did not slow as much as is normal for the Lunar New Year because not as many workers returned home, she said. Many remained in the cities where they work because of coronavirus related travel restrictions.
Ongoing supply issues were also likely to keep prices underpinned given Covid-19-related disruptions at Brazil’s Vale, and the potential for further weather-related port stoppages amid the northern Australian cyclone season.
Fortescue exports from the world’s largest iron ore export hub of Port Hedland in Western Australia, where storms have already halted operations twice this season.