“ARLP continued to perform well in the third quarter and slightly better than our expectations,” said Joe Craft, president and CEO. “Record sales volumes allowed us to significantly reduce coal inventories and, along with ongoing cost containment efforts, led to increased net income and EBITDA. We also continued to strengthen our contract portfolio during the [third quarter], taking advantage of improving market conditions to secure coal sales agreements for the delivery of an additional 11.2 million tons through 2020.”
Strong sales performance at the River View, Gibson South and Tunnel Ridge mines in the third quarter drove total coal sales volumes to a quarterly record 10.8 million tons, an increase of 4.5% compared to the same period last year. Reflecting operating adjustments made in response to market conditions, coal production decreased 25.7% to 8.5 million tons in the third quarter compared to last year, primarily due to idling the Onton and Gibson North mines in the fourth quarter of 2015, the planned depletion of reserves at the Elk Creek mine in the first quarter of 2016, and reduced production at the Hamilton, Dotiki and River View mines.
