Australia's Whitehaven Coal jumps on price outlook, output beat
(Reuters) -Australia's Whitehaven Coal said on Friday that it was optimistic about further gains in metallurgical coal prices due to supply constraints and reported quarterly production ahead of market expectations, sending its shares nearly 8% higher. Australia's biggest independent coal miner, which acquired two metallurgical mines from BHP last year for $4.1 billion, said a shortfall in global coal production with long-term output constraints and higher sea-borne demand from India is expected to lift prices. "There have been some ongoing question marks about coal demand given the global focus on other sources of energy, but for the time being at least the numbers from Whitehaven today provided some near-term comfort to investors," said Tim Waterer, market analyst at KCM Trade.