Whitehaven plans Maules Creek coking coal trials

OREANDA-NEWS. August 13, 2015. Australian producer Whitehaven Coal plans to start production of metallurgical coal products from its Maules Creek thermal and coking coal mine with trial cargoes to several steelmakers this year

Interest from Japan is high following a campaign by the group's marketing team, Whitehaven said. Maules Creek is the Gunnedah basin in northern New South Wales.

While Whitehaven is planning to expand it coking coal production, it is also calling for cuts in metallurgical coal supplies. The lower demand from the seaborne market has caused coal prices to fall, Whitehaven said. Producers have responded by cutting metallurgical coal production and redirecting their coal into other markets. But the increase in metallurgical coal production from Queensland's Bowen basin producers has largely left the seaborne metallurgical coal market oversupplied. "Further production cuts are required to rebalance the market," Whitehaven said.

The company is not selling to China, with the country's imports of metallurgical and thermal seaborne coal during this year's first half falling significantly following the introduction of Beijing's new import policies.