FORTESCUE Metals concedes that the plunging iron ore price has been worse than it expected, but the miner insists it has several levers to pull if things get worse. Chief executive Nev Power said the Pilbara miner continued to deliver iron ore to China at an all-in cost of about $50 per tonne, while making good margins. "We're not at all concerned about this current iron ore price," he told reporters after the company's annual general meeting in Perth today. We're making a strong cash margin at the current price. Fortescue Metals shares have fallen below $3 as iron ore prices have fallen under $US75 a tonne in an oversupplied market. Fortescue achieved only $US71 a tonne during the September quarter, which was above its production costs but it will make it harder for it to repay debt. Chairman and major shareholder Andrew Forrest took a swipe at Fortescue's major competitors, saying he hoped BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto's continued expansion in an oversupplied market would not affect relations between Australia and China. "They've said they're out to restrict the growth of other companies and restrict other opportunities being brought into the marketplace by their competitors," he said. To me that's a very fine line to tread when your major customer is one of those people you're trying to shut out of the market. He said Rio and BHP seemed to be acting against the interests of their major customer and shareholders. I wouldn't have thought it's a very customer-friendly policy and I only hope that it doesn't have any impact on the bilateral relationship with China, which is very strong. Commodities analysts have forecast further price falls for the steel-making commodity. Mr Power said that the price would remain low for as long as it took for high-cost production to be removed from the market. But he insisted Fortescue could run on very low capital. "We can put all of our cash into paying down our debt and continuing to pay dividends to shareholders," he said. Any board decision to cut the company's dividend would be taken in February, but over the long term Fortescue was committed to a dividend payout ratio of 30 to 40 per cent, he added. Fortescue Metals shares closed six cents lower at $2.96. Originally published as Fortescue serene amid iron ore price falls