Fortescue cuts hundreds of jobs in UK and Australia as it sends EV motor making to China

Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals is cutting several hundred jobs in the UK and Australia following a decision to send manufacturing activities to China, including for the motors and power trains of its planned giant electric haul trucks.

The jobs cuts will affect Fortescue Zero, and comes as the company ramps up the roll out of the new technologies it needs to reach its ambitious target of “real zero” by 2030, meaning it will burn no gas or diesel at its giant Pilbara iron ore operations by that date.

That target will require up to 400 huge 240 tonne electric haul trucks for transporting ore at its mines, half of which will now be built by China’s XCMG in a move announced just a few weeks ago.

Fortescue will provide the first 20 electric motors and power trains for the other nearly 200 electric trucks to be delivered by Liebherr, but the reminder will now be outsourced to another manufacturer in China.

Fortescue’s head of growth and energy Gus Pichot says Fortescue Zero will remain focused on research and development – rather than manufacturing – to deliver the technologies that will decarbonise the Pilbara operations by 2030.

“In 2022, when we committed US$6.2 billion to Real Zero – eliminating fossil fuels from our Australian operations by 2030 – there were few capable of delivering solutions at the scale required,” he said in a statement.

“That’s why we grew Fortescue Zero into a green technology innovator and enabler, which has led the development of breakthrough green technologies now being tested on our Pilbara mine sites. 

“As we anticipated, technologies have advanced rapidly, market capability has grown, and others are now ready to match our ambition. 

Pichot said the majority of the job losses would be in the UK. “This is never an easy decision, and Fortescue is dedicated to guiding the transition with compassion, respect and support.”

Fortescue has also signed other key deals with Chinese manufacturers, including BYD for its battery storage, and Envision for wind turbines that will be used at its first major wind project in the Pilbara. Longi has also been signed up for the solar PV panels being rolled out at various solar projects powering its mines.

The Envision deal will also feature new “self lifting” turbines from Nabrawind, a Spanish wind technology developer recently bought by Fortescue to help minimise construction costs for its planned wind projects, the first of which will begin construction in 2026.

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