Fortescue shipped 49.7 million tonnes of iron ore in the last quarter, setting a new benchmark and underpinning a strong start to the financial year.

The Perth-based miner is the world’s fourth-largest supplier of iron ore.

The result for the first three months of 2025/26 was four per cent higher than the same period last year, marking a record first quarter.

But it was also 10 per cent down on the final quarter of 2024/25.

Operations chief executive Dino Otranto described the result as a “strong start to the year”.

Its full-year guidance was unchanged, with Fortescue still expected to supply 195-205Mt, including 10-12Mt from its Iron Bridge operation in Western Australia.

Fortescue also improved its cash position to $US4.6 billion ($A7.1 billion), mainly due to prepayments and drawdowns in term loan facilities in the US and China.

Gross debt grew by 20 per cent to $US6.5 billion ($A10 billion), with net debt jumping to $US1.9 billion.

Mr Otranto said the miner was also maintaining a pipeline of green energy projects. 

“We reached important milestones this quarter, including the successful syndication of a Renminbi-denominated term loan and the establishment of new global partnerships that will help drive our profitable decarbonisation,” he said.

This post was originally published on Michael West.