Whitehaven Reports Hike in Annual Coking Coal Production

CANBERRA (Scrap Monster): Whitehaven Coal Ltd reported a great increase in its annual production after the developing its Australian mining operations. This adds up in the global oversupply of the fuel which leads to multiyear lows in prices.

Whitehaven, one among the largest coal producers in Australia, said that it has produced 26 pct more salable coal from the mines in the year and the total sales has also increased by 22 pct.

The company added that the net salable coal output was 10.3 million metric tonnes. Meanwhile, the company is on progress in the development of its Maules Creek by investment 767 million Australian dollars; Maules Creek is one of the largest known coal reserves in Australia.

As new mines moved into production, the coal prices have been decreasing since 2011. Analysts said that the high stockpiles in china and increasing production of coal in Asian countries are making the prices weak.

Since 2007, the Australian coking coal prices are nearing their lowest level and this is due to the expanded mine operations by BHP Billiton and Glencore PLC. However, White haven forecasts that the rival miners will cut their own output, which in turn leads to a modest recovery of the prices at the end of 2014.

The company said, “Positive signs are emerging in the metallurgical coal market. Production cuts of about 19 million tons per annum from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Mozambique have occurred, with expectations that further cuts are likely to occur in coming weeks.”

The company was less hopeful on the thermal coal market and said that it was facing a continued pick up in supply and should remain in surplus until at least next year.