Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. saw total revenues increase $146.7 million to a record $2.6 billion during 2023, primarily due to higher coal sales revenues. Coal sales prices and coal sales revenues for 2023 were higher by 8.6% and 5.1%, respectively, compared to 2022.
“For the 2023, we once again delivered record revenues and net income, relying upon the strength of our well-contracted coal order book and the resilience of the entire ARLP team who persevered through volatile market challenges and difficult mining conditions,” said Joe Craft, chairman, president and CEO for Alliance. “Our strategic relationships with our long-standing customers were evident during Q4 2023 as we contracted an additional 12 million tons for domestic deliveries over the 2024 through 2028 time period at attractive, escalating prices, bringing our committed and priced order book for 2024 to more than 90% of expected shipments.
“We believe the worst of the adverse geological conditions, which delayed development of a new district at Mettiki, idling the longwall there for essentially the entire second half of 2023, are behind us,” Craft said. “With the longwall at Mettiki resuming production in late December 2023, we are expecting production in the first quarter of 2024, for our
Last year, Alliance produced 34.9 million tons compared to 35.6 million tons in 2022. For 2024, the company is forecasting ILB volumes of 24.5-25.8 million tons, and Appalachian volumes of 9.5-10 million tons for a total of 34-35.8 million tons.
“We expect to complete the major infrastructure projects at Tunnel Ridge, Hamilton, Warrior and the River View complex in 2024,” Craft said. “ARLP will start to recognize the benefits from these strategic investments in 2025 as total capital expenditures will be significantly lower and these mines will be more productive, ensuring we maintain our position as one of the most reliable, low-cost producers in the eastern United States over the next decade. We are forecasting domestic natural gas prices to rise in 2025 as new LNG terminal capacity comes online.
“As we think about the outlook for the coal industry and the markets we serve, we should all take notice that grid planners have nearly doubled five-year load growth forecasts in support of ongoing investments in U.S. industrial and manufacturing sectors, as well as rising energy needs associated with datacenters and artificial intelligence,” Craft said. “While the speed of electrifying the transportation sector may have slowed, the enthusiasm for AI has accelerated.”
“We remain confident in our projections for sustained coal demand for Alliance and the likelihood that the premature closures of coal-fired power plants in the eastern U.S. will be delayed, Craft said.
