Australian coal miner Whitehaven Coal Ltd has warned of lower annual coal output amid a tight export market plagued by supply chain issues, unfavourable weather conditions and COVID-19 pandemic-related labour shortages. Whitehaven Coal Managing Director and CEO Mr Paul Flynn said “Weather events across the Gunnedah Basin and Hunter Valley have impacted operational productivity and road access, resulting in a cumulative impact on production and sales volumes for the quarter. FY22 guidance has been updated to account for the effects of significant rainfall associated with La Niña and COVID-related labour shortages. Whitehaven has unfortunately not been immune to recent heavy rains that impacted large parts of regional NSW and QLD as La Niña made its presence felt for the second Australian summer in a row. While we remain very confident about ongoing favourable supply and demand dynamics, there is elevated uncertainty associated with COVID’s impact on workforce availability and resourcing through our supply chains.”

Highlights

Coal prices continued at attractive levels through the December quarter and remain well supported for the near future given strong underlying demand and persistent supply-side disruptions. Whitehaven achieved coal pricing averaged AUD 211 per tonne for the quarter (FY21 AUD 94 per tonne, Q2 FY21 AUD 86 per tonne)

December quarter managed run-of-mine production 3.2 million tonnes

December quarter managed saleable coal production 3.0 million tonnes

December quarter total managed coal sales 4.0 million tonnes, managed own coal sales 3.5 million tonnes, total equity coal sales 3.3 million tonnes and equity sales of own coal 2.9 million tonnes

Managed coal stocks 2.1 million tonnes as at 31 December

Narrabri longwall relocation from panel 109 to 110 successfully completed in December

Whitehaven Coal is a leading Australian producer of premium-quality coal. It is a dominant player in Australia’s emerging high-quality North West NSW coal basin & exports thermal and metallurgical coal from Australia to the world. It operates four mines, three open-cut and one large underground mine, in the Gunnedah Coal Basin of NSW. Operating assets are complemented by two high-quality, near-term development assets, being Vickery, near Gunnedah, and Winchester South, in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

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Strategic Research Institute

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