Whitehaven Coal met market expectations for third-quarter production as reported on April 28, helped by its New South Wales open-cut mines, and forecast higher long-term prices for both metallurgical coal and thermal coal.

Shares of Australia's top independent coal miner rose as much as 3.4% to A$8.02 after the results, marking their biggest intraday gain since April 13, placing the stock among the day's top performers on the broader index.

The Sydney-based coal miner reported managed run-of-mine (ROM) coal production of 9.5-million tons for the three
months ended March 31, in line with the Visible Alpha consensus estimate. This compares with 9.2-million tons a year earlier.

Supply constraints in Australia and steady buying from India's steel sector have boosted demand for metallurgical coal, Whitehaven's largest revenue contributor.

Whitehaven said a structural shortfall in global production and increased seaborne demand from India are expected to underpin metallurgical coal prices in the long term.

The company earned an average of A$207/t, or $148.77/t, of coal sold in the quarter, compared with A$190/t in the
previous quarter and A$203/t a year earlier.

The miner's New South Wales operations posted a 15% higher output in the quarter ended March 26, while production at its Queensland operations, which includes the Blackwater and Daunia mines it bought from BHP Group in 2023, decreased by 9% owing to weather-related disruptions.

The company also said that strong long-term demand for high-quality seaborne thermal coal, combined with supply shortfalls from underinvestment in new mines and the depletion of existing supply, should continue to support prices.

"Higher thermal coal prices are more than offsetting the impact of higher diesel costs," said CEO Paul Flynn, referring to the recent surge in prices from the Middle East conflict.

Whitehaven added that its guidance for the full year remains unchanged and reiterated that it is on track to finish firmly in the upper half of that range.