Australia’s Fortescue remains committed to its green energy vision, but is adjusting project timelines to navigate global market uncertainties, the CEO of its energy division, Mark Hutchinson, said on Thursday.

In a statement announcing the group's half-year results, Hutchinson reaffirmed Fortescue’s vision to produce green electrons and green molecules at scale. However, he acknowledged that shifting economic conditions and policy settings were necessitating a recalibration of the development schedule for some projects.

“Amid challenging global market conditions, we have not changed our vision or direction and remain committed to producing green electrons and green molecules,” said Hutchinson. “However, we are adjusting our timelines to ensure any project we work on brings value to our shareholders.”

Key external factors influencing these adjustments include the US administration’s recent directive to pause grant payments under the Inflation Reduction Act, uncertainty over the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive III (RED III) in Europe, and pending global elections, including in Australia.

As a result, Fortescue is reconsidering the development timeframes of its Arizona project in the US and its Gladstone PEM50 project in Australia. The company said it would have a clearer picture of how these external factors would impact its strategy by the end of the financial year.

The Arizona project is billed as a groundbreaking venture into liquid green hydrogen production in the US. Located the Phoenix metropolitan area, the project began construction in 2024, and had an initial production timeline set for mid-2026. Stage 1 will produce 11 000 t/y of liquid green hydrogen.

The Gladstone PEM50 project, located adjacent to Fortescue’s existing Gladstone electrolyser manufacturing facility, is a two-stage 50 MW green hydrogen proejct that will have a production capacity of 8 000 t/y of green hydrogen.  The project will use Fortescue’s own proton exchange membrane, or PEM, technology. Construction is expected to start in 2024, with first production of green hydrogen in 2025.

Feasiblity studies and planning approvals for its Holmaneset project in Norway and the Pecém project in Brazil remain on track.

HALF-YEAR RESULTS
Meanwhile, CEO Dino Otranto said overall, Fortescue delivered an "outstanding operational performance" for the first half of the 2025 financial year. 

The iron-ore major reported record iron-ore shipments of 97.1-million tonnes in the six months to December 31, which was a 3% improvement on the first half of 2024.

"The team achieved our highest ever half-year shipments while keeping costs low," said Otranto.

However, the group's financial performance felt the pinch of lower commodity prices, with revenue falling by 20% year-on-year to $7.6-billion in the six months, and underlying earnings before interest, tax and depreciation decreasing by 38% to $3.6-billion. Net profit after tax plunged by 53% to U$1.6-billion.