Abingdon, Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources has reported a tripling of net profits to a total of $49.8 million for the first quarter of this year, up from $14 million for the same period a year ago.
Total revenues in the first quarter were $1.1 billion compared to $922.0 million in the same period of 2010. Coal revenues totalled $987.0 million—up 19 percent from $831.3 million a year ago.
The company said that results were boosted by the increasing global demand for metallurgical coal and the resulting “robust pricing environment”—factors that have enabled it to price approximately 2.6 million tons of metallurgical coal for delivery in 2011.
Of the newly contracted volumes, around 1.2 million tons commanded prices of approximately $324 per metric tonne.
The US is on track to export approximately 100 million tons of coal in 2011—an increase of approximately 25 percent from 2010 and the highest level of US exports in nearly 20 years, the company said.
Alpha is now increasing its 2011 and 2012 metallurgical coal shipment guidance to a range of 13.5 to 14.5 million tons in each year, up from a range of 13.0 to 14.5 million tons in each year previously.
In January this year, Alpha announced that it had acquired Richmond, Virginia-based Massey Energy Company, a transaction now nearing completion and set to give a further boost to Alpha’s position in the marketplace. The combined company will have over five billion tons of reserves, a leading position in global metallurgical coal shipments and a workforce of approximately 14,000.
One of America's premier coal suppliers, Alpha has coal production capacity of more than 90 million tons a year. The company is the nation's leading supplier and exporter of metallurgical coal used for steel-making and is a key supplier of thermal coal to electric utilities and manufacturing industries across the US.
Alpha employs approximately 6,500 people and operates around 68 mines and 13 coal preparation facilities in Appalachia and the Powder River Basin.
