Fortescue, Liebherr secure orders for 100 electric mining trucks, Forrest says
By Simon Webb
NEW YORK, Sept 26 (Reuters) -Australian miner Fortescue FMG.AX and German-Swiss equipment manufacturer Liebherr have secured orders for 100 autonomous battery-powered mining trucks for other mining and transport companies, Fortescue Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest told Reuters.
The trucks were developed as part of Forrest's plan to cut Fortescue's direct and indirect carbon emissions to zero by 2030. Fortescue is the world's fourth-largest iron ore miner.
Fortescue and Liebherr have received expressions of interest for hundreds more of the electric version of the T 264 truck that they developed together, Forrest told Reuters in an interview in New York.
The 240-tonne capacity trucks are more expensive than the roughly $5 million price tag for large diesel mining trucks. Fortescue and Liebherr, which teamed up in 2022 to develop the trucks, have not detailed the price of the electric version.
The two companies signed a $2.8 billion partnership on Wednesday to supply 360 of the trucks to Fortescue, three times as many as the 120 planned under the initial partnership. They would also supply 55 electric excavators and 60 battery-powered dozers. The vehicles they have developed would be made available for other firms, the companies said on Wednesday.
Fortescue builds the drive trains and batteries, which it developed, while Liebherr provides the truck, Forrest said.
"They are more reliable and more productive than diesel trucks," he said.
"That's our holy grail, that we can take on the fossil fuel trucks with our first edition. That's not a bad outcome. Immediately competitive."
The company has also developed a way to fully charge the huge trucks in 30 minutes, he said. The technology was scaled up from the technology used to charge electronic racing cars used in Formula E, he said.
Fortescue is saving $300 million to $400 million per year on fuel costs already from battery-powered trucks in its fleet, Forrest said.
Fuel and energy costsare the biggest operating costs for Fortescue, he said. Eliminating some of those costs would help the company weather structural changes in the iron ore market, he said.
Iron ore prices SZZFc1 are hovering near two-year lows plumbed earlier this month around $91 a tonnes as more supply comes on line amid top buyer China's economic slowdown.
Fuel is also one of the company's biggest emissions sources. Fortescue's mining fleet consumed about 450 million litres of diesel in FY24, accounting for 51% of its scope 1 carbon emissions.
Fortescue has been exploring various strategies to produce green iron metal. The company eventually wants to convert all its iron ore into green iron, Forrest said, declining to say when it might meet that target.
There would be strong demand for green iron from steel plants in China, Japan, South Korea and Europe, he said.
"They'll take it straight away," he said. "As they can make steel without the pollution."
Additional reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
