Australian iron ore miner Atlas Iron Limited announced today, October 17, that strong production from its existing operations, together with the commissioning and ramp-up of the Abydos mine resulted in another quarter of record production and shipments. Accordingly, Atlas shipped 2.4 million mt of iron ore in the third quarter of this year, including 366,000 mt of Atlas Value Fines. This represents an eight percent increase compared to the second quarter of this year and a 50 percent increase compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Iron ore prices performed strongly in Q3, with seasonal price weakness previously experienced at this time of the year not seen during the quarter, said Atlas, adding that Chinese steel? production levels remain high and iron ore inventories moderate, which are typically indicators of ongoing iron ore price strength. Atlas' average headline sale price for the third quarter of this year was $117/dmt for standard fines, compared to $107/dmt in the second quarter of this year. The average grade of standard fines shipped in the given period was 57.2 percent Fe.
Atlas Managing Director, Ken Brinsden said, "Strong production from existing operations, combined with the commencement of mining and haulage from Atlas' fourth mine, Abydos, has resulted in another quarter of record shipping. We now have a production rate of 10Mtpa, targeting shipments for the year of 9.8 to 10.3Mt."
