⁍ Fortescue Metals Group on Thursday beat its full-year iron ore estimates on the back of record shipments in the fourth quarter as demand picked up in China.

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⁍ Fortescue shipped 47.3 million tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making material in the June quarter, up from the 46.6 million tonnes a year ago.

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⁍ The company reported shipments of 178.2 Mt for the year, above the miner’s own upgraded forecast of 175-177 Mt.

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– China is the world’s biggest importer of iron ore, and that’s good news for Fortescue Metals Group, the fourth-largest iron ore miner in the world. Fortescue shipped 47.3 million tons of the steel-making material in the fourth quarter of 2017, up from 46.6 million tons a year ago, reports Reuters. It also comfortably beat the average estimate of 46.1 million tons from three brokerages. The company reported shipments of 178.2 million tons for the year, above its own upgraded forecast of 175-177 million tons. Fortescue received $80.64 dry metric tonne (dmt) over the quarter, or about 86% of the average Platts 62% CFR Index price, slightly short of a UBS estimate for 90% or of $84.20 per dmt. Over the last fortnight, Rio Tinto and BHP both reported higher iron ore output thanks to strong conditions in China, whose economy returned to growth in the second quarter. However, BHP did warn that fresh outbreaks could threaten the revival. Fortescue’s costs did rise, though, to $13.02 per wet metric tonne in the quarter, nearly 2% higher than a year ago due to COVID-19. The miner forecast shipments of 175-180 Mt for the year ahead, betting that the flood of liquidity from Beijing to support the world’s second-largest economy will accelerate demand.