Westar Mining will take cuts on coal deals

Japanese consumers have negotiated lower prices and contract volumes for metallurgical coal they will obtain from Westar Mining in southeastern, B.C. The company’s Balmer and Greenhills operations will now receive $44(US) per tonne, a reduction of $5 and $5.50 respectively from the two mines.

Westar says the Japanese will only be taking 37.5% of their original contract volume of 4.37 million tonnes from Balmer and 40% of their original contract volume of 760,000 tonnes from Greenhills. In 1986, Japanese customers represented approximately 42% of total coal volumes from the Westar operations.

The new contract volumes will represent shipments of approximately 1.9 million tonnes during the 1987 coal year, a reduction of about 250,000 tonnes from projected shipments in 1986. Last year’s volumes were lower because of a 4-month labor stoppage and reduced steel production in Japan. February 2, 1987