The Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price is under the microscope after the ASX mining share revealed its quarterly production update.
Fortescue is one of the world’s largest iron ore miners, with Andrew Forrest being a key figure at the business.
FY26 first quarter update
Fortescue announced in the three months to 30 September 2025, it achieved total iron ore shipments of 49.7 million tonnes (mt), which was 4% higher year on year, representing a record for the first quarter.
The above total included 2.1mt from the new high-grade project Iron Bridge, which achieved revenue of US$121 per dry metric tonne (dmt).
The revenue for the rest of its iron ore (hematite) was an average of US$89 per dmt, which was 87% of the average Platts 62% CFR Index.
In terms of production costs, the hematite C1 unit costs were US$18.17 per wet metric tonne (wmt) in the FY26 first quarter, up 1% year on year.
The balance sheet had cash of US$4.6 billion and net debt of US$1.9 billion at 30 September 2025 after paying the final dividend of FY25 of US$1.2 billion, plus capital expenditure of US$908 million during the quarter.
Decarbonisation and energy
The company is working towards decarbonising its operations and helping other heavy emitters reduce their emissions.
During the UN General Assembly, the business announced partnerships with BYD, LONGi and Envision Energy to accelerate the deployment of electrification, solar, wind and energy storage to achieve ‘real deployment’.
Fortescue announced that 10 electric excavators are now operational and construction of the 190MW Cloudbreak solar farm is one-third complete.
Management comments
The Fortescue Metals and Operations CEO Dino Otranto said:
We reached important milestones this quarter, including the successful syndication of a Renminbidenominated term loan and the establishment of new global partnerships that will help drive our profitable decarbonisation. We’re continuing to see delivery of this on the ground, with 10 electric excavators in operation and construction of our 190MW solar farm at Cloudbreak now more than one third complete.
We’ve also started to implement our revised Hematite life of mine plan, underpinned by the inclusion of the recently acquired Blacksmith Project. The plan optimises material movement and orebody use, ensuring Fortescue remains positioned as a low-cost, capital-efficient operator, maximising value across our operations.
Final thoughts on the Fortescue share price
The Fortescue share price has jumped 32% in the last six months, which is a big rise for a commodity business. I’d rather buy when investors are pessimistic about iron ore miners than increasingly bullish.
It’s good for shareholders and Australia when the iron ore miners are performing well, but this doesn’t seem like the right time to invest.
There are other ASX dividend shares that look more appealing to me.
