In a statement to the ASX on Wednesday,the company said relentless rain and localised flooding were hampering production at its Maules Creek and Tarrawonga open-cut mines,with access and haulage roads impacted as dams and rivers continue to spill over in Gunnedah Basin in the north-east of NSW.
The La Nina weather event has disrupted production at the company’s open-cut mines.AP
The company said run-of-mine production was lower at all three of its open-cut mines,and it is now expected to produce between 19 million and 20.4 million tonnes of coal this financial year,down from a previous range of between 20 million and 22 million.
While it had not experienced any on-site flooding,Whitehaven said it had been forced to transport staff via helicopter to bypass flood-related access issues.
Overall,the company’s equity coal sales for the full year are anticipated to drop to between 13.1 million and 14.4 million tonnes. However,the unit cost of coal,excluding royalties,is projected to climb to from $US95 to $US102 ($157) a tonne.
Will van de Pol,Asset Management campaigner at Market Forces,said Whitehaven needed to pivot to keep up with calls to limit coal production.
“The irony of climate-fuelled weather events hitting Whitehaven Coal’s bottom line would be funny if we weren’t talking about catastrophes that are taking such a devastating toll on communities,” van de Pol said.
Producers of coal,Australia’s second-largest export,are facing a deeply uncertain long-term outlook as governments around the world sign-up to stronger targets to slash their consumption of fossil fuels and.
However,as the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine deepens a,demand and prices are soaring in the short term. High-quality thermal coal at the Port of Newcastle,the benchmark in Asia,has been trading at record average levels of nearly $US400 a tonne,up from an average of $US90 in 2021,putting Whitehaven on track to report record profits.
Whitehaven managing director Paul Flynn said in the company’s September quarterly report that they had been working to counter interruptions and adapt to extreme weather events.
“We delivered a strong operational performance in the September quarter at our Narrabri underground mine,but our open-cut operations were impacted by wet weather and flood-related road closures in September,” he said.
“With La Nina forecast to be a feature through the spring season,we have been working constructively with councils and developing measures to minimise the impacts of weather delays and flood-related road closures as much as possible.”
Whitehaven CEO Paul Flynn said operations had been impacted by the wet weather.AFR
“Whitehaven generated $1.55 billion of cash in the September quarter,and we have a net cash position of $1.93 billion at 30 September.”
The disruptions from La Nina come three weeks after Flynn and Whitehaven chair Mark Vaile fielded questions at the company’s AGM from shareholders about the miner’s ongoing contribution to the climate crisis.
“Last month,more than a fifth of Whitehaven’s shareholders took the extraordinary step of demanding the company wind down coal production in line with a net zero emissions by 2050 pathway,” van de Pol said.
“Whitehaven must heed investor and community calls to drop its coal expansion plans,that would usher in further climate chaos.”
Whitehaven declined to comment further. Its shares were down 6 per cent to $8.83 in early trading.
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