Yahoo Finance Why Did Cloud Peak Energy’s Shipments Fall in 1Q16?
Cloud Peak Energy's Not-So-Peak 1Q16 Earnings
Shipments by segment
Shipments from the company’s Antelope mine continued to be a major revenue driver for Cloud Peak Energy (CLD). Shipments from this mine came in at ~6.9 million tons, as compared to ~9 million tons during 1Q15. Volumes declined by nearly 28% on a QoQ (quarter-over-quarter) basis from ~9.5 million tons in 4Q15.
Shipments from the Spring Creek mine saw the biggest drop on both a QoQ basis and a YoY (year-over-year) basis in 1Q16. These shipments fell to ~2.4 million tons from ~4.8 million tons in 1Q15. The Cordero Rojo mine saw a ~38% drop in shipments from ~5.9 million tons in 1Q15.
CLD’s Logistics and Related Activities segment witnessed a ~82% reduction in shipments from 1.7 million in 1Q15. The fall is mainly attributable to the reduction in Asian exports from 1.4 million in 1Q15 to 0.2 million in 1Q16.
Cloud Peak Energy’s overall shipments
Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) reported shipments for the first quarter of 2016 at 12.96 million tons, down from ~19.7 million tons for the same period in 2015. On QoQ basis, shipments dropped by nearly 30% from ~18.6 million tons in 4Q15.
Why the fall?
According to company filings, the drop in shipments is mainly due to weak natural gas prices and increased coal stocks on account of reduced winter heating due to mild weather conditions.
Shipments from CLD’s Logistics and Related Activities segments fell mainly due to planned reduction in shipments considering the low international thermal coal prices. The decrease is in line with amendments to the agreements with Westshore Terminals and BNSF Railway to reduce take-or-pay commitments for contracted export tons for 2016–2018.
Other major coal (KOL) mining companies in the PRB (Powder River Basin) region include Peabody Energy (BTUUQ), Alpha Natural Resources (ANRZQ), and Arch Coal (ACIIQ).
Now let’s look at Cloud Peak’s revenue for 1Q16 and its coal pricing.
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