Whitehaven Coal expects coal prices to remain elevated in the near term on strong demand from China and continued weather impact on Indonesian supplies.
Coal prices spiked earlier this year after seaborne trade was disrupted in March and April by Cyclone Debbie's impact in Queensland, with metallurgical coal rising to more than $US300 a tonne and thermal coal touching nearly $US90 a tonne.
Thermal coal prices declined into May but have since rallied again, while metallurigical prices are stable, Whitehaven chief executive Paul Flynn said.
"We see strong support for continued pricing at these levels," he said on a conference call.
Demand for thermal coal from power generators in China had increased eight per cent in the first four months of this calendar year, even as Indonesian supply was hit by weather-related delays, the company said.
Thermal coal accounts for more than 75 per cent of Whitehaven's output, although it has been trying to increase its higher margin metallurgical coal, a key ingredient for steelmaking.
The east coast miner on Thursday said it produced 20.78 million tonnes of coal in the 12 months to June 30, slightly below its guidance for 21-22 million tonnes, but still six per cent higher from a year ago.
Production was impacted by the revamp at the Narrabri operations in NSW that had mainly taken place during the third quarter.
However, output in the June quarter was up seven per cent from a year ago to 5.48 million tonnes of saleable coal, helped by record output at its Gunnedah mine, also in NSW.
Sales for the year rose three per cent to 20.67 million tonnes, lifted by a six per cent increase in the last quarter to 5.48 million tonnes.
Full-year sales of metallurgical coal rose on the back of higher production at its NSW Maules Creek mine but, the company said, fourth quarter sales growth of the product were lower than anticipated because it was more commercially attractive to produce and sell Maules Creek coal as thermal.
The company expects the narrowed price gap between metallurgical and thermal coal to normalise during the September quarter.
Whitehaven realised an average price of $US106 per tonne for metallurgical coal during the June quarter, lower than the preceding three months' $US119 a tonne but much higher than the $US63.20 a tonne it received a year ago.
For thermal coal, its main export, the average realised price was $US83 per tonne, similar to the level in the previous three months.
Whitehaven shares gained five cents to $2.92.
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