Fortescue sees no drop in iron ore price The surprise strength of the iron ore price should continue for the time being, according to Fortescue Metals Group boss Nev Power. Speaking after Fortescue published its results for the September quarter, Mr Power said low iron ore inventories in China would not allow the price to fall dramatically in the near future, as some pundits had predicted. Despite Fortescue remaining on track to meet full-year guidance, its shares have fallen 29¢ to $5.11 since the results were released, with some analysts disappointed that Fortescue did not outperform during the period. The miner exported 25.9 million tonnes during the September quarter, and is on track to export between 127 million and 133 million tonnes during fiscal 2014. Production costs and capital spending were also within the guided range. Before the slide on Thursday afternoon, the stock had hit its highest price this year after rallying since June. That rally has largely been due to the surprise strength of the iron ore price, which was widely expected to slump during August, September and October as it did last year when it plummeted briefly to less than $US87 a tonne. UBS had predicted iron ore would briefly slip below $US70 a tonne before October 31 as the Chinese steel industry started its annual production slowdown after the northern summer. But the price has defied expectations of another slump, averaging $US133 a tonne during the September quarter. Rather than being influenced by seasonality, Mr Power said he believed price movements were mostly driven by the size of iron ore stockpiles in China. "I know there is a lot of talk about seasonality but it seems to us that most of the iron ore price volatility has been driven by destocking and restocking cycles rather than any great seasonal effects," he said. We don't see any major changes to the position that has been there for a while. The iron ore stocks are still relatively low historically, and there isn't a large amount of room available for destocking. That's not to say there can't be some short-term volatility but we don't see any conditions that would support a low iron ore price and certainly not for any period of time - and certainly not to the levels that some of the outliers are talking about.