Oct 29 (Reuters) - Australia's Fortescue Metals Group Ltd posted a 5% rise in first-quarter iron ore shipments on Thursday, as demand in China for the steelmaking ingredient remained robust.

The world's fourth-largest iron ore miner said it shipped 44.3 million tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making material in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 42.2 Mt a year earlier, and in line with UBS estimates of 44.1 Mt. (Reporting by Anushka Trivedi & A K Pranav in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Shounak Dasgupta)