TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US coal-miner Alpha Natural more than tripled its fourth quarter profit to $18-million, compared with $5,6-million a year earlier, boosted by higher shipments after the company acquired rival Foundation Coal last year.

The firm said it had increased its outlook for the year, and now expects to ship between 11-million and 13-million tons of metallurgical coal, compared with a previous forecast of 10-million to 12-million tons.

"Demand for metallurgical coal appears to be increasing; customer discussions are ongoing; and recent indications suggest that the strength is likely to continue throughout 2010,” CEO Kevin Crutchfield said in a statement.

The company remains leveraged to improvements n the metallurgical coal market, with 38% of its planned 2010 metallurgical shipments yet to be priced, he added.

However, the firm adjusted its forecast for eastern steam coal shipments to between 23-million and 26-million tons, compared with an earlier range of 23-million to 28-million tons.

Next year, the group plans to ship between 82-million and 94-million tons of coal, including between 48-million tons and 52-million tons from the PRB.

Eastern steam coal shipments in 2011 are expected to range from 23-million tons to 28-million tons, while eastern metallurgical coal shipments in 2011 are expected to range from 11-million tons to 14-million tons.

Alpha Natural reported coal revenue for the fourth quarter of $787,5-million, compared with $512,8-million in the same period of 2008, as the addition of Foundation Coal's operations offset lower shipments and revenue from Alpha's existing assets.

The company sold 21,3-million tons of coal – 12,1-million tons of Powder River Basin (PRB) coal, 6,6-million tons of Eastern steam coal and 2,6-million tons of metallurgical coal – compared with just 6,2-million in total in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Alpha, the fourth-largest coal-miner in the US, has operations in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.

Shares in the company rose 4,4% on Tuesday morning, to $42,16 apiece by 9:53 in New York.