ArcelorMittal’s iron ore shipments based on market prices grew in the second quarter to 10 million mt, the steel and mining group said Wednesday in an earnings statement.
Market-priced iron ore shipments increased by 9.3% from Q1 and were up 5.4% compared to Q2 2017, due to higher shipments in Liberia and Ukraine, offset in part by lower mainland Canadian and Brazilian shipments.
ArcelorMittal said market-priced iron ore shipments are expected to grow 10% in 2018 compared to 2017. Overall, the company’s iron ore production in Q2 decreased by 1.5% year on year to 14.5 million mt due to lower production from its Canadian subsidiary AMMC and in Ukraine.
This was offset in part by increased production in Liberia, which is on track to produce 5 million mt in 2018, the company said. ArcelorMittal has moved ore extraction to the Gangra deposit with direct shipping ore at lower impurity than exploited at Tokadeh prior.
The Gangra mine, haul road and related existing plant and equipment upgrades have been completed, it said.
“Now that mining at the Gangra deposit has commenced, ArcelorMittal Liberia has launched a feasibility study to identify the optimal concentration solution in a phased approach for utilizing the significant lower grade resources at Tokadeh,” it said.
ArcelorMittal expects the results of the feasibility study at the end of 2018, and said it plans for the subsequent shift in Liberia to a high grade, long-term sinter feed concentration phase, from existing DSO sales.
The company also sells iron ore from Baffinland in Canada, where shipments are ramping up this year, although the company did not give any details on volumes.
– Source: S&p Global
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