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Premium coal producers are looking forward to a massive boost in revenue from record prices set for the coming year.
Hard coking coal used in steel making will fetch more than US$300 ($378) a tonne after an agreement between Australian producers and Japanese steel mills. This is more than three times what was paid during the past year.
State-owned Solid Energy, which made a $2.67 million loss in the half year to December, stands to benefit by $300 million in extra revenue from the 1.5 million tonnes it will export from its Stockton mine.
"The coal industry is going through amazing growth and a boom period despite a near doubling of world coal prices," said South Island general manager Simon Doig.
Hard coking coal prices have soared, mainly because of high demand for steel in China.
Pike River Coal's tunnel to a premium coal seam near Greymouth is nearing its final stages and the company says it hopes to get 120,000 tonnes of coal to the market for the $300 a tonne price before the end of the Japanese fiscal year in March 2009.
For the following year Pike River aims to export one million tonnes as the mine reaches full production.
Current price forecasts for next year range from around US$150 to US$200 a tonne.
