Whitehaven shares rise after reporting unchanged production guidance

The news: Whitehaven provided an optimistic outlook in its quarterly production report, despite production declines since September. Production guidance for the year remained unchanged.

The numbers: The coal miner said that while run-of-mine production fell 6% to 5 million tonnes compared to the previous quarter, total equity coal sales jumped 21% in the period to 3.7 million tonnes. Coal exports from the Port of Newcastle for the calendar year were up 6% compared to 2022, reaching 40.6 million tonnes in the December quarter. Thermal coal prices averaged $US142 ($216) a tonne, down from $US351 in the same quarter last year, with metallurgical coal down from $US312 a tonne to $US166 a tonne.

Managing director Paul Flynn said annual production guidance will remain unchanged at 18.7 to 20.7 million tonnes, while the company has downgraded annual output expectations from its Narrabri underground operation which was hit by geological issues and equipment failures during the quarter.

The context: The miner's update noted that underlying demand for high CV thermal coal remains strong in the company's traditional and emerging markets in Asia, with the anticipated growing structural shortfall in hard coking coal production to supply Asian demand expected to underpin metcoal prices over the longer term.