Birmingham, Alabama, US-based Walter Energy, Inc., has provided its outlook for its second quarter performance, reaffirming its full-year metallurgical coal production guidance. Walt Scheller, Walter Energy CEO, said that the second quarter metallurgical coal production is expected to be in line with 2012 guidance.
Walter Energy expects its metallurgical coal production to be approximately 2.8 million mt for the second quarter of 2012, up more than 10 percent from 2.5 million mt in the second quarter of 2011. Full-year 2012 metallurgical coal production is expected to be between 11.5 and 13 million mt.
According to Walter Energy's statement, the second quarter metallurgical coal sales volume is also expected to be approximately 2.8 million mt, up from 2.4 million mt in the first quarter of 2012.
Given the current trends in the global coal markets, Walter Energy's metallurgical coal prices for the second quarter of the current year is likely to fall approximately 12 percent for hard coking coal and 15 percent for low volatile pulverized injection coal (PCI).