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WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED — Capital/Financing Update 2021
Mar 22, 2021
66059_rns_2021-03-22_4b6a73cb-3981-4e28-87bd-dae11f411857.pdf
Capital/Financing Update
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ASX ANNOUNCEMENT
23 March 2021
NCIG outage, NSW floods and FY21 guidance
NCIG outage
Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) has advised it has suspended shiploading at the Port of Newcastle after a structural assessment of its shiploader SL1 identified faults requiring an expected period of two weeks to be repaired.
NCIG will not have any shiploading capability until the repairs to SL1 are complete, noting that storm-related damage to its other shiploader (SL2) in November 2020 is expected to return to operation in Q4 CY21. Since November 2020 Whitehaven has been redirecting ships across to Port Waratah Coal Services where possible.
Current weather-related port restrictions are also hampering vessel movements at the Port of Newcastle. There is a backlog of vessels at Newcastle, with approximately 40 ships queued.
New South Wales floods
A much wetter than average season has been experienced at site and the NSW State Emergency Service released a warning yesterday that flooding is predicted in the Namoi River, in the Gunnedah Basin, in the coming days. While Whitehaven does not expect flooding at any of its operations, there is an elevated possibility of temporary inundation of local roads which could disrupt workforce movements and product haulage. Significant flooding has been seen elsewhere, with the Australian Rail Track Corporation advising that the Hunter Valley rail network is experiencing interruptions due to localised flooding which is expected to subside later this week.
FY21 updated guidance
We have updated FY21 guidance to take into account the above matters as well as strong recent production performance at Maules Creek and a slower than expected ramp-up of production at Narrabri following the mining through geological faults in Q2 and Q3 FY2021. This updated guidance sees a narrowing of ROM coal production ranges and a reduction in managed coal sales.
The situation in relation to flooding and port / infrastructure impacts is still developing and is the focus of continued observation and evaluation. Further updates will be provided in the March Quarterly Production Report on 15 April.
| Item | FY21 updated guidance | FY21 previous guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Managed ROM coal production Mt Maules Creek Mt Narrabri Mt Gunnedah O/C Mt Managed coal sales Mt |
21.4 – 22.0 12.2 – 12.4 5.3 – 5.5 3.9 – 4.1 18.5 – 19.0 |
21.0 – 22.5 11.8 – 12.4 5.4 – 6.0 3.8 – 4.1 19.0 – 20.0 |
Investor contact Media contact Sarah McNally Michael van Maanen +61 2 8222 1155, +61 477 999 238 +61 8222 1171, +61 412 500 351 [email protected] [email protected]
This announcement is authorised for release to the market by the Board of Directors of Whitehaven Coal Limited.
Whitehaven Coal Limited ABN 68 124 425 396 Level 28, 259 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000 | 02 8222 1100 | [email protected] | www.whitehavencoal.com.au