Swiss-headquartered iron ore miner and pellet producer Ferrexpo with assets in Ukraine saw production of iron ore pellets increase in January-July. The company produced 6.6 million tonnes, up by 2.9% on-year, Kallanish notes.

In July alone, the company produced 1mt of pellet, up by 28.2%.

Ferrexpo's production of iron ore pellets in H1 remained flat on-year at 5.56 million tonnes, but sales decreased by 9% to 5.56mt due to a prior drawdown of stockpiles (see Kallanish passim).

H1 revenue increased 74% year-on-year to $1.3 billion, reflecting market conditions and investments in increasing pellet quality. Ebitda rose by 147% to $868 million, while profit after tax also gained by 165% to $661m.

Ferrexpo expects global iron ore demand to decline in the second half of 2021, on reduced government stimuli. The company is currently undertaking expansion work and expects this will deliver growth in the near-term, having invested $93m in capital expenditure in H1. The firm says it is already looking ahead to its next phase of growth.

On product quality, the company has secured its first long-term contract for its latest product offering, high-grade Fe 67% direct reduction pellet, which it claims represents the future of global steel production.

As of July, the consensus forecast for iron ore prices (62% Fe) in 2021, based on a grouping of 11 investment banks, was $170/t for the full year. This implies a decrease in the average iron ore price by approximately $15/t in H2 from the level seen in H1, Ferrexpo says.