Quarterly iron ore shipments were 42 million tonnes, in line with the previous quarter, and are running ahead of target for the year due to minimal weather interrruptions.

C1 costs dropped by another 6% to a record low $US14.79 per wet metric tonne, and are now down by 43% over the same quarter of 2015.

The company is targeting C1 costs of $13/t by the end of June, but acknowledged the higher Australian dollar and increased oil price will make that a much larger challenge.

The guidance was set when the Australian dollar was 71c, and every 1c move in the local currency impacts FMG’s C1 costs by 18-20c.

Last week, FMG CEO Nev Power told MNN that all iron ore miners would be impacted by the moves.

“It’s a tide that floats all boats. You’d expect to see the same impact on BHP and Rio, everybody else in there,” he said.

This morning the dollar was nearing 77c, but the iron ore price had also jumped to nearly $60/t.

FMG’s average realised price for March quarter jumped to $45.94 per dry metric tonne from $40.46/t, and the price realisation on the Platts 62 CFR index rose to 95% from 87%.

The company’s cash balance grew to $2.5 billion from $2.3 billion, while net debt dropped to $5.9 billion from $6.1 billion.

An additional $200 million of cash will flow into the June quarter due to timing adjustments associated with provisional pricing.

Capital expenditure so far this financial year has been $176 million, and the company maintained guidance at $200 million.

Shares in FMG jumped 5.7% to $A3.13.