Iron ore miner Atlas Iron Limited (ASX:AGO) has posted lower quarterly shipments and lowered its annual output guidance.
The company’s December quarter production report showed Atlas shipped 1.39 million tonnes of ore in the three months to the end of December 2011, down 5 per cent from the quarter before.
The quarterly figure brought its half year shipments to 2.85 million tonnes.
Atlas has described the performance as robust in the face of difficult conditions outside of the company’s control.
Atlas expects to ship between 5.5 to 5.7 million tonnes of ore in the full 2012 financial year, down its earlier forecast of 6 million tonnes due to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Heidi.
In the 2011 financial year Atlas Iron posted a net profit of $169 million.
