“Coal sales volumes increased significantly as we shipped substantially all of the 1.4 million tons impacted by weather-related transportation disruptions during the sequential quarter,” said Joe Craft, president and CEO, Alliance. “U.S. coal market conditions remained favorable allowing us to secure new commitments for approximately 8.9 million tons to be delivered to domestic customers through 2021. We also continued to strengthen our international coal sales position, booking an additional 4.6 million tons for delivery to the export markets over the next 12 to 18 months. Our operations have also performed well, increasing production volumes to meet additional demand while continuing to control per ton costs.”

In response to growing international thermal coal demand, Alliance brought the first continuous mining unit back into operation at its Gibson North mine during the second quarter and they currently anticipate the second unit will commence production by the fourth quarter of this year.

Coal production volumes increased 2.6% year-on-year to 9.7 million tons, primarily due to increased production at the Gibson South and River View mines and the resumption of operations at our Gibson North mine.