Fortescue Metals preparing to cut up to 1,000 jobs - The Australian


FILE PHOTO: The logo of Australia's Fortescue Metals Group can be seen on a bulk carrier as it is loaded with iron ore at the coastal town of Port Hedland in Western Australia

Thu, February 9, 2023 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Fortescue Metals Group is looking to cut up to 1,000 jobs across its back office and clean energy unit as part of a cost-cutting exercise, The Australian reported on Thursday, less than week before Fortescue reports half-yearly results.

The cuts will be across Fortescue Future Industries, a clean energy subsidiary focused on producing hydrogen using renewable energy, and head office functions like finance and IT, the Australian reported, citing unnamed sources.

A spokesperson for the world's No. 4 iron ore miner said any significant changes to the number of its employees require board approval, which has not been received.

"We are always looking for opportunities for continuous business improvement," the spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

Fortescue reports results for the six months through December on Feb. 15.

The company is preparing to cut costs despite a more than three-month rally in iron ore prices as traders bid up the metal in anticipation of China's economy reopening from pandemic restrictions.

The Australian reported that job losses at the company's Pilbara region mining operations are likely, although safety staff and production workers would probably be exempt.

Some of the job losses follow the near completion of Fortescue's Iron Bridge project, set to go into production in March, the paper added.

(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)