(Reuters) -Australia’s Fortescue on Thursday posted record fourth-quarter shipments that helped the miner meet the top end of its full-year guidance, and said it would scrap its U.S. and Australian green hydrogen projects. The Perth-based company said it would not proceed with its Arizona Hydrogen Project in the U.S. and the PEM50 Project in Gladstone, Australia, following a review. It is assessing options to repurpose the land and assets.
Fortescue also expects a preliminary pre-tax writedown of about $150 million in its second-half results, linked to spending on the PEM50 Project, electrolyser manufacturing equipment in Gladstone, and engineering costs for the Arizona Hydrogen Project.
The mining giant expects to ship between 195 million and 205 million metric tons of iron ore in fiscal 2026, including 10 million to 12 million tons for Iron Bridge on a 100% basis.
Iron Bridge is Fortescue’s sole magnetite operation, located in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
The company forecast metals capital expenditure of $3.3 billion to $4 billion in fiscal 2026.
It posted quarterly iron ore shipments of 55.2 million metric tons (Mt), up from 53.7 Mt a year earlier and above a Visible Alpha estimate of 52.5 Mt, supported by improved processing of the steel-making commodity.
Fortescue, chaired by billionaire founder Andrew Forrest, shipped 198.4 Mt of iron ore in fiscal 2025 – its highest on record – and met the top end of its 190–200 Mt annual guidance.
Larger rival BHP last week reported record copper output in fiscal 2025 while iron ore mining giant Rio Tinto logged its strongest second-quarter iron ore production since 2018.
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas and Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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