By Nathan Richardson

February 15, 2019 - Australian coal mining company Whitehaven has trimmed its fiscal 2018-2019 (July-June) saleable production guidance to 21.5 million-22.5 million mt, from 22 million-23 million mt, the company said Friday in its first-half results.

The decision followed a number of events at Whitehaven's 70%-owned and second largest Narrabri mine from mid-January and into February, which saw the miner reduce the mine's run-of-mine production guidance for the current fiscal year to 5.6 million-6 million mt, from 6.5 million-6.8 million mt.

The company also announced that Narrabri's ROM production in fiscal 2019-2020 is expected to be in the range of 6.2 million-6.6 million mt.

It maintained its guidance at its largest mine, Maules Creek, at 11.8 million-12.2 million mt ROM, it said.

Whitehaven realized an average price of $110/mt for its thermal coal sales in July-December, reflecting "an increase in Chinese imports of higher quality coal from Australia, significant increases in import volumes in South and Southeast Asia following the ongoing deployment of new coal fired power stations in the region, and despite strong prices for high quality coal, limited supply side response," it said.

For metallurgical coal, Whitehaven received an average $124/mt for the period, which is up from $111/mt in the previous corresponding period.

This was driven by a combination of quarterly benchmark-linked and index-based contracts, it said.

During the first-half of the fiscal year, Whitehaven's thermal coal sales went to Japan (61%), Taiwan (15%), South Korea (12%), Malaysia (5%), Indonesia (2%), the Philippines (2%) and the rest to undisclosed locations.

Its metallurgical coal was sold to India (34%), South Korea (19%), Taiwan (15%), Japan (14%), Vietnam (13%), and 5% elsewhere, it said.