US-based metallurgical coal miner Ramaco Resources has raised its 2024 sales and production guidance, which it says reflects the strong market acceptance of the company's coal.

The Kentucky-headquartered firm, which has three mines in Central Appalachia and one development mine in Wyoming, increased its 2024 base level sales guidance to between 4.2-million and 4.6-million tons, up from 4.1-million to 4.6-million tons previously.

In early December, Ramaco committed an additional 1.8-million tons for sale into export markets in 2024, taking its total commitment for delivery this year to 3.8-million tons. This comprises 1.5-million tons committed to North American customers at an average realised price of $167/t and an additional 2.3-million tons committed at mostly index-linked pricing for delivery to export customers.

This level of sales would be 96% of the low-end of Ramaco’s original 2024 production guidance of 3.9-million tons.

The miner’s new production guidance for the year is between 4.0-million and 4.4-million tons.

Depending on continued market conditions, Ramaco says it believes that an annual sales run-rate level of about five-million tons may be achievable by the end of the year.

A five-million-ton annualized run-rate would represent a year-over-year increase in sales of roughly 1.5-million tons, or roughly 40%, above 2023 levels.

Meanwhile, Ramaco reported that it had purchased a coal preparation plant for $3-million that it will relocate to the Maben complex, in Wyoming.

This will reduce the cost of trucking raw coal production from Maben to the Berwind preparation facility and also provide the optionality to have a preparation facility to handle additional future production from a deep mine complex at Maben.

The plant has a current maximum processing capacity of 1.85-million raw tons, or 0.8-million clean tons, a year. With modest upgrades, the processing capacity can be increased to 1.3-million clean tons a year. 

The plant should be operational by the fourth quarter.

Maben is currently producing at a run-rate of more than 250 000 t/y from its surface and highwall mine, which with potential additions in 2024 may increase to about 325 000 t.