THERMAL coal - the bedrock of Newcastle's coal exports - is still selling at near record levels of $US400 ($587) a tonne or more - while prices of virtually every other metal or mineral commodity have fallen dramatically in recent months.
The only other exception is lithium, needed for batteries, which is trading at near record prices.
The coal boom was reflected in a quarterly production report by Whitehaven Coal which told the stockmarket yesterday it expects financial year 2022 earnings of $3 billion before income tax and depreciation, up from $200 million a year ago.
Thermal coal is burned in coal-fired power stations, and prices have skyrocketed for a range of reasons.
Global policies to phase out coal use mean that production can not easily be lifted to meet growing demand - triggered by a growing realisation that powering the world with renewables will not be as easy as promoters had hoped.
The situation is most obvious in Europe, where non-hydro renewables are struggling without Russian gas and the phasing out of Germany's nuclear power stations as a post-Fukushima reaction.
As a result, thermal coal is now such a valued commodity that it is selling at around twice the price of much higher quality metallurgical or coking coal used in steelmaking, which is normally far more expensive than thermal coal.
Demand for available supplies of thermal coal is so strong that it has defied a downturn that has seen iron ore fall from more than $US200 ($293) a tonne last year to less than $US100 ($146) a tonne this week.
Similarly, aluminium prices have fallen by about a third since March, nickel has almost halved since April and coking coal is down by about 60 per cent over four months. Zinc prices are at their lowest levels for 10 months and copper - despite growing demand from electrification policies - is at its lowest price in almost two years and down 30 per cent since March.
The thermal coal boom is reflected in the share price of Whitehaven Coal, operator of Maules Creek and other mines in the Gunnedah and Narrabri regions.
Whitehaven listed at $1.70 a share in 2007 and yesterday's price of $5.88 is the fourth peak since then, with prices having risen steadily since the most recent trough, in August 2020, at 93 cents.
Yesterday's June quarter production report emphasised "record coal prices and solid production results".
Highlights included achieving "a record average coal price of $514 a tonne for the quarter and $325 a tonne for the 2022 financial year".
Whitehaven's "strongest ever full-year result" was from 84 per cent thermal coal and 16 per cent coking.
