Macarthur coal shares advance on sales forecast Friday, 05 Jun 2009 Bloomberg reported that Macarthur Coal Limited rose to the highest in 6 months in Sydney trading after predicting it will beat its sales forecast as demand from China unexpectedly jumps.
Mr Nicole Hollows CEO of Brisbane based Macarthur said that sales are expected to exceed previous guidance of 3.9 million tonnes in the year ended June 30.
Mr Hollows said that “Rising Australian metallurgical coal sales to China represent a very significant change in the sales pattern.”
Macarthur jumped 5.7% to AUD 7.05 at 12:55 PM Sydney time, the highest since Nov 5. The stock has more than doubled this year and has a market value of AUD 1.5 billion.
Mr Shane Stephan CDO said that the company has received increased sales inquiries this year from China, not a traditional export market for Australian coal.
He said that “We historically have never sold coal into China at all and just since February there has been increasing levels of inquiry from China. That’s the major change. From time-to-time China has imported thermal coal from Australia but this is really the first time that it has imported significant quantities of metallurgical coal from Australia.”
