Coal miner reaps price rise from Middle East conflict
Australia’s second largest listed coal miner has been benefiting from higher prices since the start of the US-led war against Iran almost three weeks ago.
Rob Bishop, chief executive of New Hope Corporation, said the escalating conflict spreading across the Middle East, causing deaths and displacement, was “deeply distressing”.
It has also exacerbated concerns about global energy security, putting upward pressure on coal prices.
Mr Bishop noted that New Hope’s contracts were tied to the spot price of coal, meaning it had seen this benefit since the war began on February 28.
New Hope increased its net profit in the first half to $54.3 million, down 84 percent from $340.3 million in the previous period.
Its underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell 58.5 percent to $214.8 million in the half-year ending Jan. 31.
The result came after the price of coal fell by half, although production was in line with expectations.
Newcastle coal was trading at $135 a tonne on Tuesday. This is down from just under $100 in early 2006, but is still below the peak of around $145 in August 2024.
Mr Bishop said New Hope had long-term customers who continued to buy the company’s coal under long-term contracts, and only a small amount of it was sold on the open market.
“I think it’s fair to say that a lot of lessons have been learned from the Ukraine crisis regarding energy supply security,” he told analysts during the earnings call.
“But as we’ve seen, coal prices have certainly increased and we’ve seen the direct benefit of that as well, given that all of our coal is contracted to the industry.
“So our results for the second half of the year for this group are starting to trickle in.”
Mr Bishop said there were several reasons why coal prices had not risen as much as gas following the latest conflict in the Middle East.
“I think things could change very quickly if there was a major impact on gas supply or similar,” he added.
New Hope was the second-worst performer on the ASX200 corporate index on Tuesday afternoon, with its shares changing hands at $4,955, down 6.5 per cent from Monday.
New Hope will pay shareholders an interim dividend of 10 cents per share, down from 19 cents a year ago.
Headquartered in Brisbane, New Hope’s assets include the New Acland coal mine in Queensland, the Bengalla coal mine in NSW and the Brisbane Coal Terminal at the Port of Brisbane.
In the first six months of the 2026 financial year, New Hope mined 5.5 million tonnes of coal, up 0.4 per cent from a year ago, as operations ramped up at New Acland in south-east Queensland.
“In an environment of lower coal prices, our assets remain resilient and continue to generate solid margins,” Mr Bishop said.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
