PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore miner Atlas Iron is optimistic about the future of the iron-ore price, with MD Ken Brinsden saying on Wednesday that the company was looking forward to “pretty healthy prices”.

“I think it’s fair to say that we think the investment community is taking too negative a view about where iron-ore markets are at,” he said in a conference call.

“I think our quarterly results demonstrate how healthy the iron-ore markets are, and having just come back from China, there is nothing to indicate, in our view, that China is coming to a halt or that there is a hard landing to emerge there.”

Brinsden said feedback from the company’s Chinese customers had, however, indicated that the customers were eager to take up more supply.

“Our customers are still concerned about supply and where it is coming from and, in the event that we could deliver more of those in the short to medium term, I’m confident that they would be taking a lot more than we could offer today.”

During the three months ended March, Atlas shipped a record 1.86-million tons of ore, at an average headline price of $126/t for standard fines and $109/t for value fines.

“This result shows Atlas is benefiting from ongoing strong iron-ore prices and a continued emphasis on keeping costs down. Margins and cash generation from operations are robust today on the back of these two factors,” Brinsden said.

He noted that the company was expected to export some 2.2-million tons during the June quarter, with standard fines expected to increase during that time, with the resolution of issues at the Wodgina mine.

“With construction well advanced at Abydos and the Mt Webber development decision expected in the coming months, we continue to target a production rate of 12-million tons a year by the start of the second half of the 2014 financial year,” Brinsden added.

“This attractive outlook is underpinned by low debt, a strong cash position and a host of options for realising the value of our Horizon 2 assets.”