Releasing its Q3 2022 production report this week, Australia’s Whitehaven Coal said production for the quarter amounted to 4 million metric tons (mt), a 32% decline over the prior quarter. Rains and regional flooding impacted open-pit mining operations. “We delivered a strong operational performance in the September quarter at our Narrabri underground mine, but our open-cut operations were impacted by wet weather and flood-related road closures in September,” Whitehaven Coal Managing Director and CEO Paul Flynn said. “With La Niña forecast to be a feature through the Spring season, we have been working constructively with councils and developing measures to minimize the impacts of weather delays and flood-related road closures as much as possible.”
Despite those issues, Whitehaven achieved a record average coal price of A$581/mt ($365/mt) for the quarter, compared with A$514/mt ($323/mt) in the previous quarter and A$189/mt ($119/mt) during the same period last year. “With demand for high-quality coal continuing to outstrip global supply, coal prices set another record in the September quarter and continue to be well supported,” Flynn said.
Whitehaven’s Q3 2022 coal sales amounted to 2.9 million mt, down 32% from the previous quarter’s 14% compared to the same period last year.
