Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Fortescue Metals Group June 2022 quarterly production report media call. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There'll be a presentation followed by a question -and -answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. Please note there is a limit of two questions per participant. To ask further questions, please rejoin the queue. I would now like to hand the conference over to Elizabeth Gaines, CEO. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Harmony, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to Fortescue's June 2022 quarterly production report. Joining me today in Perth is Ian Wells, Chief Financial Officer, and I'm delighted to welcome Yuluwirri McGrady, who joins us as CEO for a day. As a proud Kamilaroi man, Yuluwirri joined Fortescue in 2014, where he worked at Christmas Creek in the Aboriginal development and VTEC space. Now in his role as manager of Aboriginal business development, Yuluwirri is an important interface between Aboriginal businesses and our Billion Opportunities program. Yuluwirri is committed to encouraging and empowering the next generation of Aboriginal leaders to take advantage of the vast career opportunities within the resources sector. It's great to have you with us, Yuluwirri.
Thanks, Elizabeth. Great to be here.
That brings me to our fourth quarter results, and as you can see from today's report, Fortescue's operating excellence continues to drive strong results across our key metrics of safety, production and cost with another outstanding quarter for Fortescue. Our operational excellence is underpinned by our absolute focus on the health, safety, and wellbeing of the entire Fortescue family, and I want to commend the entire team for continuing to look out for their mates on our journey to zero harm. Our total reportable injury frequency rate continues to improve, with a TRIFR for the 12 months to 30 June of 1.8%, and that's 10% lower than at 30 June 2021. This reflects our core value of safety, and it was a particularly pleasing performance while managing the ongoing challenges resulting from COVID-19.
Fortescue is not immune from the latest wave of community transmission of COVID across Western Australia, and each of our sites continues to be impacted. I would like to acknowledge our team members who have contracted COVID, including those who have either isolated or are isolating on-site. I'd also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the 'Enough is Enough' report, which was released during the quarter following the WA Parliamentary inquiry into sexual harassment against women in the FIFO mining industry. Having participated fully in the inquiry process, Fortescue supports this important work undertaken by the committee. Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our Fortescue family is our highest priority. There is no place for harassment of any kind at Fortescue or in any workplace, and we continue to take decisive action to ensure our workplaces are safe for everyone.
Moving to our operational performance, the Fortescue team has delivered excellent results for the June quarter, with record iron ore shipments of 49.5 million tons. This outstanding operating performance has resulted in record FY 2022 shipments of 189 million tons, exceeding the top end of guidance. In FY 2019, Fortescue shipped 168 million tons, and that's approximately 20 million tons below our shipments in FY 2022, clearly demonstrating the value that has been created year -on -year. This is the result of the team's commitment to operational excellence and production efficiency, which, together with the successful integration of Eliwana, has delivered strong growth in Fortescue's production and shipments.
This year's results were achieved in a challenging operating environment due to the impact of COVID-19, as well as severe inflationary pressures, including soaring diesel costs resulting from the conflict in Ukraine. We continue to operate in an environment of elevated cost inflation and as Ian will discuss shortly, these inflationary pressures have further increased during the quarter. Despite these industry-wide and global headwinds, Fortescue's unique culture and values have delivered these exceptional results, and I'm immensely proud of the performance of the entire Fortescue team. Turning to the market, and we continue to see strong demand for Fortescue's products during what remains a dynamic and volatile period in the iron ore market. Ongoing COVID-19 related lockdowns in China and weakening global economic outlook have added to market uncertainty.
Iron ore prices trended lower during the quarter, and that was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, which disrupted China's downstream steel demand and weighed on steel mill margins. Looking ahead, there are clear headwinds to global economic growth, including the continuing conflict in Ukraine, the energy crisis in Europe, and tighter monetary policy. In China, we expect both infrastructure investment and the further relaxation of COVID restrictions to support underlying steel demand. Fortescue's average revenue was $108 a ton in the June quarter, and that's an increase of 8% over the previous quarter as our realization increased from 70%-78% of the Platts 62 index. Our sales and marketing strategy remain centered on the current and future needs of our customers and the optimization of our supply chain.
Fortescue continues to maintain strong relationships with all of our Chinese stakeholders, and that's underpinned by a multifaceted approach spanning supply, procurement, financing, investment, and social engagement. Port side sales by our wholly owned Chinese sales entity, FMG Trading Shanghai, increased to 5 million tons in the June quarter, with sales of 18.5 million tons in FY 2022. Fortescue Trading Shanghai is now a very well-established part of our broader sales and marketing function and complements our other sales channels. As always, we remain very focused on working closely with our customers in China and elsewhere to ensure that we're responsive to market conditions.
Turning to Iron Bridge, and the project continues to make significant progress with key milestones achieved during the quarter, including six module ships unloaded at Port Hedland. Taking the total at 30 June to 20 of 21 module ships that have been berthed and unloaded. All the critical path items have now been delivered to site, and I'm pleased to advise that the last module ship was unloaded this week. We've also seen the installation of primary crusher A, and we've commenced commissioning of dry circuit A from the primary crusher to the coarse ore stock pile. The team have made continued progress on the installation of the concentrate and return water pipelines across excavation, welding, and laying. Construction of the concentrate handling facility at Port Hedland has advanced with civil, structural, and electrical works progressing.
The Iron Bridge project demonstrates Fortescue's commitment to our strategic pillars of investing in the long-term sustainability of our iron ore business and investing in growth. Iron Bridge will deliver 22 million tons per annum of high-grade 67% Fe magnetite concentrate, enabling Fortescue to provide an enhanced product range and increase production and shipping capacity. The capital estimate for the project is unchanged at a range of $3.6 billion-$3.8 billion, with first production scheduled for the March 2023 quarter. On exploration, consistent with our strategic focus to invest in the future of our core iron ore business and diversify commodities that support decarbonization, the total exploration and studies capital expenditure for the June quarter was $63 million. For FY 2022, the total expenditure was $194 million.
Iron ore exploration in the Pilbara included resource definition drilling in the Eastern Hamersley, with a focus on the program at Gnargoo and Lindy South, along with regional exploration programs across our tenement holdings in the Pilbara. Exploration activity on the Australian Copper Belt portfolio included target generation utilizing geophysical data sets gathered through the first half of the financial year, with a focus over the Paterson projects in Western Australia, as well as drilling at the Vulcan South project in South Australia. Our international activities included drilling programs in Argentina and Kazakhstan, and exploration activities across several project areas in Peru, Chile, Brazil, and Ecuador. On that, I'm gonna hand over to Ian for the finance update. Ian.
Thanks, Elizabeth, and hi, everyone. The June quarter in FY 2022 marks another period of consistent performance, which has enabled the business to take advantage of market conditions and deliver another year of strong free cash flow generation. As always, it's a real privilege to highlight the financial results disclosed in the quarterly report that released earlier today. Kicking off with revenue, our average revenue in Q4 of $108 a ton represented the realization of 78% from the Platts index, and that was up $8 quarter-on-quarter, and compares to a realization of 17% in the March quarter. That means full year average revenue was an even $100 a ton at a realization of 72% of the index.
Realizations have been in sharp focus through the year, impacted by Chinese steel production curtailments during the December half and more recently as COVID-19 restrictions disrupted steel demand and impacted steel margins. As you can see, revenue realizations improved in the quarter, and we've been consistent in our message that realizations are cyclical and a result of the market supply-demand dynamics. Fortescue's average realization of 78% in the June quarter is clearly trending back towards the historical average of a little over 80%. That shows the consistent product quality and low variability of Fortescue's ores continue to be recognized in the market and valued by our customers. Moving to costs. As discussed last quarter, the lag effects of inflationary pressures continue to impact operating and capital costs.
Our C1 cost of $17.19 in the June quarter was 9% or about $1.40 per ton higher than the previous quarter, and that's reflecting the increase in diesel costs, labor rates, and other consumables like ammonium nitrate. C1 cost for the full year was $15.19, and that was in line with our updated guidance. We remain focused on cost management and leveraging technology and innovation to deliver productivity gains. Our FY 2023 cost guidance takes into account that lag effect of ongoing inflationary pressures into FY 2023. Relative to the June quarter C1 of $17.19, our FY 2023 cost guidance of $18-$18.75 anticipates a further increase in diesel prices, labor rates, and other consumables, as well as mine plan-driven impacts. Just a reminder on our cost sensitivity guidance.
Fuel and energy, which is largely diesel, have increased to represent around 20% of total C1 costs, and we guide that a $10 movement in the barrel price of crude oil translates to a AUD 0.30-AUD 0.35 per ton impact on C1. On the exchange rate, the majority of our cost base is incurred in Aussie dollars. Every $0.01 cent movement in the Aussie/U.S. exchange rate impacts C1 by about AUD 0.15 a ton. Moving to cash flow and balance sheet. Closing cash at 30 June 2022 was AUD 5.2 billion. That compares with AUD 2.2 billion at the 31st of March. That reflects both the strong free cash flow generation during the quarter, as well as the proceeds of our AUD 1.5 billion bond issue that we closed in April.
That cash balance is after capital expenditure of AUD 766 million in the quarter, bringing total CapEx for FY 2022 AUD 3.1 billion, and that was also in line with guidance. Included in that investment was about AUD 1 billion on major projects, Iron Bridge and PEC, as well as AUD 220 million for the acquisition of Williams Advanced Engineering. Gross debt increased to AUD 6.1 billion at 30 June, and that's of course inclusive of the completion of the bond issue during the quarter, which included Fortescue's inaugural green bond issue worth AUD 800 million. That notes issue further optimizes Fortescue's capital structure and is aligned with our capital allocation framework, which includes a commitment to a strong balance sheet with targeted investment-grade credit metrics.
As we have done in the past, we'll continue to proactively manage our debt security profile. That balance sheet strength and our disciplined capital allocation framework positions us well for FY 2023 to continue to reinvest back in the business, and that's to support safe, reliable, and productive operations. We're clearly seeing the benefits of that with our production performance. We're also focused on delivering returns to shareholders and investing in growth. On that investment, there are a few parts to highlight in our FY 2023 capital guidance, which is AUD 2.7 billion-AUD 3.1 billion, excluding FFI. The first thing is sustaining capital. We're guiding AUD 1.4 billion-AUD 1.6 billion, and this is capital investment which supports asset performance and production increases, and as a result, it provides an attractive return on investment.
This category is showing an increase relative to FY 2022, AUD 1.3 billion. Just to call out a few items, it includes the completion of operational development projects from FY 2022, includes scheduled maintenance at our ore processing facilities, also maintenance and upgrades of our camp infrastructure, which is aligned with the initiatives identified through our workplace integrity review, some mine plan-led dewatering, and of course, there will be sustaining capital incurred for Iron Bridge as it transitions into operations in FY 2023. Guiding hub development capital of AUD 300 million, with work underway on the Flying Fish mining area. Exploration studies of AUD 200 million is in line with FY 2022. Major projects in a range of AUD 700 million-AUD 800 million, and that's reflecting completion of the Iron Bridge project and ongoing work at PEC.
The final category is AUD 100 million-AUD 200 million of capital investment in decarbonization, and that largely relates to early-stage renewable energy infrastructure, green fleet development, and that's all aligned with our decarbonization commitments. On Fortescue Future Industries, FFI's total expenditure in FY 2022 was AUD 534 million, inclusive of AUD 386 million of operating expenditure, again, consistent with guidance. In accordance with Fortescue's capital allocation framework, the capital commitment unutilized by FFI at 30 June 2022 is AUD 728 million. FFI's FY 2023 anticipated expenditure is a range of AUD 600 million-AUD 700 million, inclusive of AUD 100 million of CapEx, and the balance of AUD 500 million-AUD 600 million recognized as an operating expense.
In closing, delivering consistent performance and being transparent in doing what we say we're going to do is an important part of Fortescue's track record. As always, by focusing on the things that we can control, we continue to create value for all of our stakeholders. We look forward to disclosing the full set of financial results at the end of the next month. On that note, Elizabeth, I will hand back to you.
Thanks, Ian. Fortescue is taking an industry-leading position on reducing emissions across our operations as we continue to transition to a global green energy and resources company. We've set clear priorities for our pathway to decarbonization, including investment in renewable energy through Pilbara Energy Connect, as well as investing in green technologies to eliminate the use of diesel in our mobile fleet. We're already seeing the benefits of our decarbonization initiatives, with over 78 million liter of diesel consumption avoided in FY 2022 at our Chichester operations as a result of the Chichester Solar Gas Hybrid Project, which included the first large-scale solar power generation from November last year. Development continues on the Pilbara Energy Connect Project, which includes transmission infrastructure, hybrid solar gas generation, and large-scale battery storage. PEC will integrate Fortescue's stationary energy facilities into an efficient network and enable the integration of additional renewable energy in the future.
Recent milestones include the completion of the stage one transmission line construction and energization, which is now providing power to Iron Bridge, as well as the completion of the installation of all major structures and mechanical equipment at the expanded Solomon Power Station. During the quarter, Fortescue entered into a strategic partnership with Tier One global heavy equipment manufacturer Liebherr for the development and supply of zero-emission green mining haul trucks. This agreement is a major step to decarbonizing our mobile fleet, and it leverages the capabilities and the considerable value that's been created through Fortescue's acquisition of Williams Advanced Engineering earlier this year. Fortescue Future Industries is taking a global leadership position in green energy and technology and will be a key enabler in delivering on our decarbonization targets.
Progress continues on the development of our Infinity Train project, which will use gravitational energy to recharge its battery electric systems without any additional charging requirements. Other milestones for FFI during the quarter include the appointment of Mark Hutchinson as CEO-elect, which followed the appointment of Dr. Guy Debelle as the FFI CFO. Mark was the former president and CEO of General Electric Group Europe and held a number of senior positions during his 24-year tenure at GE. Other activities for FFI during the quarter include the construction continuing on FFI's 2 GW electrolyzer manufacturing facility at the Green Energy Manufacturing Center in Gladstone, Queensland. FFI also participated in an Australian-German business coalition to release a green hydrogen roadmap for large-scale green hydrogen import into Germany.
This follows FFI's previously announced MOU with E.ON, one of Europe's largest operators of energy networks and energy infrastructure, to deliver up to 5 million tons per annum of green hydrogen to Europe by 2030. In closing, building on a third consecutive year of record operating performance, our FY 2023 guidance reflects our ongoing commitment to optimizing returns from our integrated operations and marketing strategy.
With iron ore shipments in the range of 197 million-192 million tons, which includes 1 million tons from Iron Bridge, a C1 cost for hematite in the range of $18-$18.75 a wet metric ton, and capital expenditure excluding FFI in the range of $2.7 billion-$3.1 billion. We remain focused on innovation and productivity to maintain our industry-leading cost position and deliver strong operational performance despite the inflationary environment that we're all facing. Together with our focus on investing in growth through the Iron Bridge Magnetite project and Fortescue Future Industries, we're well-placed to ensure our stakeholders continue to benefit from Fortescue's success.
As always, I'd like to pass on my sincere thanks to all of our team members, contractors, and suppliers for their hard work and commitment during this quarter and the financial year as we continue to deliver on our strategic priorities and achieve record operating performance. Thank you, and I'll hand back to Harmony to facilitate Q&A.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. A reminder that there is a limit of two questions per participant. To ask further questions, please rejoin the queue. Your first question comes from Peter Ker from The Australian Financial Review. Please go ahead.
Hello, Elizabeth, Ian, and team. Thanks for your time. Just wondering, Elizabeth, do you have clarity yet when your last day as CEO will be? In terms of when you cease being the CEO, should we be expecting someone to replace you in the exact role that you do? Or is it right to think that the role that you currently do won't exist under the future structure and that there'll be a, you know, someone appointed to a somewhat less powerful role, just in charge of iron ore to sort of be a twin to the CEO of FFI?
Well, my last day, as we've previously announced, is at the end of August. We release our full year results on the 29th of August, and the plan is that I'll participate in the full year results release, which I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you. In terms of the replacement role, no, the plan is to replace me with a CEO that has responsibility for the resources business. We've made it pretty clear in the previous announcement with the appointment of Mark Hutchinson as CEO elect of FFI, that FFI CEO will report directly to the Board. Certainly the responsibilities of the CEO of the resources business will be just as fulsome as my responsibilities.
Okay, no problem. In terms of Mr. Forrest being the Executive Chairman, I imagine that's the case today, and you understand that that's, you know, that's something that will be the case going beyond, you know, the end of August and when the head of the resources group is appointed.
Well, Andrew Forrest, as we announced—or Dr. Forrest, as we announced at the time, will assume the executive chairman role when I step down from the CEO role. He will take over the responsibilities that I currently have. Clearly, as chairman, he's keeping across all aspects of our operations, including the growth and development of FFI. That's the plan. I'm the CEO until the end of August, and then Andrew will become the Executive Chairman.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Eric Johnston from The Australian. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and thanks for the briefing. Just in the same vein following from Peter's question there. This is essentially your last operational briefing, and the targets have certainly been exceeded in terms of output. You feel the company is running as good as it can be right now with Andrew about to sort of step aside or step down?
The results that we just reported are a testament to the strength of the organization right across the business. This is never about one individual. This is about a team of people who have delivered outstanding results. The guidance that we've provided for FY 2023 reflects the continuation of that operating excellence right across Fortescue's operations.
If I can just get in sort of a more macro view on the economy. The Treasurer is about to step up on sort of concern about the broader economy with his speech there in Canberra. In terms of, like, inflation and a slowing economy, what do you see some of the risks there for Australia more specifically?
We're all feeling the impact of inflation, and you can see that in our cost guidance that we've released today. Perhaps less about focusing on Australia, but look at our own operations. We have to work very hard to keep our costs low. We know that the market is cyclical as well. We're seeing strong demand for our products, which is important, but we have to maintain our costs and be innovative to make sure we keep our costs low. We're facing the same challenges of inflation. I know it is very tough for a number of businesses in different industries. Inflation is real. We saw the release of the inflation data this week at national inflation at 6.1%.
With Western Australia, it's closer to 8%, so we're certainly feeling the impacts of inflation here. There is a lot of activity. There's a lot of demand still for skilled labor. We haven't seen any change to that demand profile and the ability and the willingness to invest. Underpinned by a strong commitment to further investment, and you can see that in our numbers as well with our capital expenditure guidance, there will remain a strong demand for skilled labor. We have to be mindful of inflation and do everything we can to continue to innovate and keep our costs low.
Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Rhiannon Hoyle from The Wall Street Journal. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and thanks for the time. The China Mineral Resources Group, post-launch, I'm just curious whether or not you or your team have had any engagement with that new entity yet, and whether you can just explain what you see as any sort of, I guess, potential upsides or downsides from negotiating with that group in future.
Well, we're obviously monitoring these developments very closely and, you know, we reach out to get an update, but we haven't had any direct engagement yet. It's only really just been established. You know, our focus is that we continue to take a very market-based approach, which is focused on our customers. Our view is that prices ultimately will be determined by supply and demand for iron ore. We haven't had any formal guidance yet on how this platform may operate, but we're monitoring that very closely. I would note that we've been selling iron ore to China under our current approach for over 14 years, and it's been an industry standard for most of that time.
It's a system that has worked well, and we have seen high levels of volatility, and that does reflect both supply and demand. Having said that, we're always open to engage with our customers to better understand their needs and demand for our product, and that ultimately will determine price. We're open to engage, and we'll continue to monitor those developments very closely.
You haven't had any feedback from your existing customers about how it might work or how your relationships with them might change, after the establishment of this group?
No, we haven't had any direct feedback. I think it is early days. Clearly, there are very numerous steel mills right across China. I think the success of our Fortescue Trading Shanghai entity in Shanghai has demonstrated that we are selling directly to key customers, smaller steel mills in China, and that's been very successful. There are a large number of customers right across China, but we haven't had any direct feedback yet on how this might operate.
Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Nick Evans from The Australian. Please go ahead.
G'day, Elizabeth. G'day, team. Apologies, I was a bit late on, and I missed a large bit of the initial presentation. So apologies if I ask something that's already been covered up. I guess I wanted to start with a macro question. I guess we've seen falling iron ore prices, and there's a fair amount of concern around the Chinese property market, the potential impact that might have on iron ore and demand for steel. Are you guys looking at that as a, I guess, a, you know, a short-term blip or do you think there's actually something structural happening in that market from what you can see that might sort of have a bit of an impact on the market for iron ore in the longer term?
Well, Nick, you know, our view would be that we would still anticipate that crude steel production in China this year will approach 1 billion tons, which is largely in line with the last couple of years. We know the Chinese government have recently announced some potential support for property development, as well as an intention to invest in sort of shanty town developments and revitalization of previous shanty towns. There is some sort of stimulus measures. Port inventories at around 132 million tons at the moment. We're less than 7% of that. Steel inventories are actually relatively low on a seasonal basis, but some of the steel mills have been producing less 'cause margins have been under pressure. It's a pretty dynamic market.
Lots of speculation, including from the IMF, as to whether China will achieve its GDP growth targets this year. I've learned never to underestimate the Chinese economy's ability to achieve targets. But, you know, our view is actually that crude steel production will be pretty flat year-on-year, and that would be our expectation.
Just a second question. Just having a look at FY 2023 guidance down the bottom and in the CapEx guidance, there's nearly AUD 300 million for hub development. I'm not quite sure what you're referring to there. What's that for? Is that for, you know, I guess, you know, a new hill or is that something that sort of we already know about?
Yeah, no, you should already know. We've talked about hub development. The hub development we've had in recent capital guidance has been our Queens Valley development at Solomon. Then the hub development moving forward is Flying Fish, which is in the Western hub and will utilize processing infrastructure at Eliwana. Opening up smaller satellite hubs is really part of a feature of our ongoing mine plan. It's not for the next major development like Nyidinghu. It's more for those smaller hubs.
Thanks. I'll pass it on. Thank you.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one and wait for your name to be announced. Your next question comes from Nick Toscano from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Please go ahead.
Hi, Elizabeth and team. Thanks for the call. I was wondering if I could ask your thoughts on the new federal government's push to legislate a 43% emission reduction cut this decade. The government says that simply legislating it will help companies, you know, obviously, and industry drive investment into clean energy technology by giving a sort of clearer picture of what the future will look like. Can I just ask your thoughts on that, Elizabeth, and whether it does, you know, encourage companies to make these sorts of investments in decarbonization?
Well, firstly, I think it's good to have priority on the target, and they obviously came to the election, stating that was going to be their objectives. 43% emissions reduction target gives some clarity. Their goal is to be net zero emissions by 2030. It doesn't change our activities. I think when it comes to providing support to other industries and other companies to invest, absolutely, we're on a goal to reduce emissions and having at least this target established, I suppose, given we've got net zero, we would encourage it to be more ambitious if we're gonna make the you know arrest climate change and meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement. Having a target does support further investment in renewable energy and technology to support renewable energy.
I look at it through a business lens. We're seeing volatility already. You're seeing that in our C1 cost guidance. The inflationary impacts we're seeing across a number of factors, but including the cost of diesel, so fuel, fossil fuel is significant. We've seen volatility, we've seen the conflict in Ukraine, the impact that has on supply. Our perspective is we want to address what we think will be a very volatile environment this decade and make sure that we're investing in decarbonization to reduce costs, reduce emissions, and we think it makes smart business sense to do so. I hope that these targets do support further companies and industries to take a similar approach.
Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Karma Barndon from Australia's Mining Monthly. Please go ahead.
Hello, Elizabeth. How are you?
Very well, thank you, Karma.
Thanks. My question is, Elizabeth, Port Hedland is very important to FMG operations. In a social license sense, media reports in the last week or so have spoken of tragedy, lack of support services for mental health in the town. Could you tell me, what is your investment in the town in dollar value in regards, and does this align with your ESG goals and your basic social license to operate in the town?
Oh, I'd have to get the information on the AUD value of investment. You know, for us, this is about practical initiatives. If I think about our vocational training and employment center, VTEC, that we operate right across the Pilbara, which actually gets people into jobs, into work. We've made a massive commitment to VTEC. Our Billion Opportunities program is supporting Aboriginal businesses right across the region. We've awarded over AUD 3.5 billion of contracts through Billion Opportunities. We have various services that we support in Hedland, including childcare services. We know it's difficult to get childcare in Hedland. Other community initiatives, we've got a program with the Hedland Senior High School to get trainees into our rail shunting program. Look, it's numerous. We have alliances with sporting as well.
You know, the key to this is training and supporting Aboriginal businesses and getting people into meaningful jobs in the mining industry. It's not just about Port Hedland, quite frankly. It's about our whole approach to engaging with the local communities where we operate, investing in those communities. The support is significant. I know that the whole town has been immensely impacted by the tragedy of last week's events. It's impacted everybody, and certainly our people feel that as well. They're part of that community. We encourage people who work at our Hedland operations to reside in Hedland because we know how important that is to sustaining a vibrant community. This is a tragic thing.
It has had a real impact on a number of people, and we support our team members and the broader community.
Okay. Thank you very much for that, Elizabeth.
Pleasure.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Stuart McKinnon from The West Australian. Please go ahead.
Just letting you in. I don't mean to labor this, but I just wanna be entirely clear in my own mind in terms of you stepping down, Elizabeth. So at the end of this month, you'll step down and Andrew, as Executive Chairman, will basically fill that role on an interim basis, as I understand it, until such time as a new iron ore boss is appointed. There's no timeline for that. Is that correct?
That's correct, Stuart. Not the end of this month, end of next month. Yes, that is correct.
Great. Okay. Thank you. Just another question on price realization. I see you've got a higher price realization this quarter even though the headline price was down. I'm assuming that's just a case of narrowing discounts for lower-grade ore. Is that correct?
That is correct. We've seen obviously with steel mills, some margins under pressure. We've seen strong demand for the mid- to low-grade ores. You know, as I said before, port inventories across China are about 132 million tons, and we're, I think, slightly less than 7% of those inventories, which is much lower than the supply into the market. You know, we're seeing strong demand for our ores. The price realization is a function of obviously supply and demand, and it's reflecting a strong demand for those mid- to lower-grade ores.
Do you expect that to continue, Elizabeth? I know it's always hard to predict, but is that a trend that's that seems to be continuing into the new financial year?
Oh, look, it is highly sensitive to steel mill margins and profitability more broadly. It has been cyclical. Ian mentioned, I think over the last decade, our average realization was just over 80%. You know, if you look back over the various quarters, we've seen some volatility in that, and it's very responsive to market conditions. We keep our costs low, and we continue to generate very strong cash margins. We maintain product consistency, product quality, and we engage closely with our customers, so we continue to see strong demand for our products. Great. Thanks, Elizabeth.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Giles Parkinson from RenewEconomy. Please go ahead.
Thanks, Elizabeth. Just got a couple of questions. The first one's about the electrolyzer factory in Gladstone. I think you said that the construction will be finished by the end of this year. When do you expect production to start? How much production do you imagine there would be in the first year, and who would be the customers?
Well, construction is progressing well. You're right. We've said that we will commence production in next calendar year. In terms of the actual production in that first year, look, it's a 2 GW capacity. I think there's gonna be a relatively steady ramp up. I think it might be probably about 25%-40% of our ultimate capacity. There's demand for electrolyzers. The team haven't actually locked in the marketing of those electrolyzers yet. As you know, we've already seen strong demand for renewable energy and green hydrogen, as evidenced by the MOU with E.ON in Germany. Ultimately, Fortescue will be the customer as FFI build out and develop those projects.
Okay, thanks. Just on the OpEx and CapEx for the current financial year, can you break that down a bit? I'm just a bit confused about what the operating expense would be. Is that largely just wages? I'm just wondering how many people-
FFI?
Sorry.
FFI. Got.
Yes. Yeah, FFI.
Yeah. Well, one of the things you need to, I guess need to. There's a lot of work underway on assessing the significant project portfolio that FFI have established. Whilst they're in that pre-feasibility stage, that would actually be operating expenditure. It can't be capitalized. The work that's going into that asset identification to target specific projects is operating expenditure. Across that cost base, there'd be project analysis, feasibility, and asset identification will be part of that. There'll be investment in green industry and technology. There's a manufacturing center obviously we spoke about at Gladstone and support costs. That is largely focused around that asset identification and analysis of those projects. As I mentioned before, we're seeing strong demand.
In fact, with that MOU with E.ON, the chief operating officer was here recently, and the message from E.ON is, "Can we do this quicker?" There's strong demand for green energy and green hydrogen, and the team are working hard to identify and advance those projects.
Okay, thanks. Look, maybe if I can just squeeze one more. The new CEO, when is he due to start, and also, Brett Redman, the former AGL chief?
Guy Debelle's already started as the CFO of FFI, and Mark Hutchinson has commenced as well, focused initially on the projects area. He's already commenced.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Nick Evans from The Australian. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good day again. Just to follow up on a couple of things in terms of FFI projects that are ongoing. I just wondered where Bell Bay is at. I mean, heard nothing. I think the last thing you said in terms of expected time was you hoped to make an FID by the middle of 2022, which has obviously come and gone. A, is that project still ongoing? And B, do you actually have any people actively actually working on it?
The project is definitely still ongoing, and we do have people actively working on it. I think as we talked about last time, a lot of that is around negotiations with the Tasmanian Government around the supply of water and energy. That process is continuing.
Those discussions are active?
They are.
Thank you. I'll pass them on.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Elizabeth Gaines for closing remarks.
Thanks, Harmony. Thanks, everyone for participating in the quarterly today. We look forward to speaking to you at the end of next month with the full year results. Take care, and we'll speak to you soon.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.