New World Resources, a Central European hard coal and coke producer, has reported a 3% increase to EUR 103/t in its agreed price for coking coal in Q1 2013 compared to Q4 2012. However, the average price for its thermal coal this year will be 19% down on the 2012 realised price at EUR 60/t.
The company expects to produce 10 – 11 million t of coal in 2013, having produced 11.2 million t in 2012. Of this, the company sold almost 5 million t of metallurgical coal and 4.7 million t of thermal coal.
Commenting on the announcement, Investec, a bank, said: “The lower thermal price settlement is indicative of the market generally, with thermal spot prices remaining weak globally.”
The world’s largest mining company has announced Q4 2012 production figures broadly in line with analyst’s expectations for petroleum and metallurgical coal, although thermal coal production was lower.