Image: Coronado Global Resources
Coronado Global Resources has delivered an all-around rise in coal output during the September quarter as chief executive Gerry Spindler pointed to the company’s under-reliance on China.
Strong performance at the Curragh mine in Queensland led to the company’s 31 per cent jump in saleable production to 4.6 million tonnes on the previous quarter.
Coronado also hit record quarterly production at Curragh with 3.6 million tonnes, a 25 per cent jump on the June quarter.
The company also achieved record sales volumes of 3.6 million tonnes, thanks to a 21 per cent rise on the previous period.
“This excellent result stemmed from an improvement in mining contract performance as well as the mobilisation of additional fleets to recover lost production and overburden from the first half of the year,” Spindler said.
“In addition, CHPP (coal handling and preparation plant) performance improved due to better reliability, higher throughput rates and the implementation of measures to improve yield.”
This performance was complemented by the restart of Coronado’s operations in the United States, with production ramping up in line with recovery in metallurgical coal markets.
Spindler said metallurgical coal index pricing had climbed by around 30 per cent off its August lows.
“Numerous blast furnaces restarted in response to increasing demand from the automotive and construction sectors,” the chief executive said in the company’s September quarterly report.
“The trend of blast furnaces restarts is evident in seaborne metallurgical coal reliant markets such as India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Europe.”
Meanwhile in China, uncertainties remain around the rumoured suspension of Australian coal imports.
This is expected to cast minimal impact on Coronado, with Spindler stating that it had no term volume contracts with Chinese counterparts and “only sell into this market sporadically.”
The company’s immunity is strengthened by its United States operations, which will continue to ship cargoes to China during the quarter.