Arrium believes increased iron exports from Whyalla and continued demand for iron ore will boost profits this year ARRIUM is predicting a "significant benefit" this year from its Whyalla iron ore operations after delivering a lower underlying net profit of $168 million. The company said it would look at options to push iron ore exports up from the current newly expanded rate of 12 million tonnes per year to 13 million, and said it expected "continued strong demand for iron ore." The mining division was the strongest performer of the company's three divisions, delivering $340 million in earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). Iron ore exports only hit their new target rate of 12Mtpa in June however, meaning next year's result is likely to be much stronger if the iron ore price holds up. Overall the company delivered a statutory net loss of $695 million, including $961 million in restructuring charges and impairments, down from a $58 million profit last year. Net debt dropped from $2.143 billion to $2.115 billion and managing director Andrew Roberts said the company was "well within our debt covenants." The mining consumables division delivered $197 million in EBITDA, increasing sales volumes 8 per cent year on year. Arrium Steel, including the Whyalla steelworks, delivered $76 million in EBITDA, with further cost reductions and divestments aimed to strengthen that business. Arrium said the decrease in underlying net profit from $195 million to $168 million was "primarily due to the impact of lower iron ore prices... which more than offset the benefit from increased iron ore sales." "Iron ore prices were down significantly compared to the 2012 financial year, but the adverse impact on earnings was offset by a 32 per cent increase in sales volumes to 8.28Mt - a record for the business, largely reflecting the ramp up of our Southern Iron expansion in the second half," Mr Roberts said. Our mining consumables business delivered strong earnings growth with EBITDA up 15 per cent to $197 million and maintained relatively stable margins. The business has continued to grow strongly year on year since the Moly-Cop acquisition at the end of 2010, leveraging its strong market positions in key growth areas for grinding media such as North and South America. In steel, our continued focus on cash generation including cost and operational improvements enabled the business to maintain the significantly improved performance achieved in the prior year, despite some further deterioration in the external environment. EBITDA for the steel business was up 15 per cent compared to the previous financial year, to $76 million. The recently announced establishment of a single steel business is expected to drive further improvement, and the business is well positioned to benefit from the recent fall in the Australian dollar. The company said it had "reasonable aspirations" of maintaining a 12 million tonne per year export rate from Whyalla for at least 10 years. The company will pay a 3c, unfranked dividend on October 17.