* Plans to sell coking coal on quarterly basis
* Q2 avg price up 35 pct for coking coal
* Sees demand buoying prices, keeps 2011 targets
* Shares fall with market, contracts priced in
(Adds CFO quotes, shares, UK incorporation)
By Jan Korselt and Jason Hovet
PRAGUE, April 11 (Reuters) - Strong coal demand will keep
prices up this year, Czech coal miner New World Resources (NWR)
said on Monday after agreeing a 35 percent quarter-on-quarter
price rise in second-quarter coking coal deliveries.
Economic recovery in central Europe has boosted the region's
automotive and construction sectors, leading to higher demand
from NWR's steel sector clients.
The miner, owner of the largest Czech hard coal mines, said
said it would begin selling all coking coal on a quarterly basis
to align pricing with international markets.
"Our issue today is not the market, our issue is how quickly
can we get coal out of the ground to supply the huge demand that
we see," Chief Financial Officer Marek Jelinek said on a
conference call.
"So I don't think there is any strong fundamental reason to
expect any dramatic weakening in the coking coal prices in the
third and subsequent quarters."
NWR shares rose in early trade before falling in the
morning, losing 0.8 percent by 0908 GMT. The Prague index <>
also turned negative, losing 0.2 percent from Friday.
Analysts said the second quarter price rises announced had
mostly been priced in the market.
NWR said it agreed the average price for coking coal sales
in the second quarter at 215 euros per tonne. The average price
for coke sales in the second quarter rose 19 percent from the
first quarter to 400 euros per tonne.
It sold 1,062 kilotonnes of coking coal in the first quarter
at an average price of 159 euros per tonne and 180 kilotonnes of
coke in the quarter at an average price of 337 euros per tonne.
NWR sold 1,575 kilotonnes of thermal coal, for which it has
a yearly contract, in the first quarter at an average realised
price of 70 euros per tonne.
The miner expects to sell 10.3 million tonnes of coal in
2011, split between coking and thermal coal, and 720 kilotonnes
of coke. Production is planned at 11 million tonnes of coal.
"Production volumes and achieved selling volumes in the
first quarter are relatively weak. Still, we see NWR's targets
achievable given the expected gradual improvement during the
year," Ceska Sporitelna analyst Petr Bartek said.
"Overall, the announced prices for second quarter point to
very strong results in 2011, but should not be a surprise for
the market."
Dutch-registered NWR is also closer to a planned
reincorporation in the United Kingdom, which would allow access
to FTSE UK indices. Jelinek said preparations should be ready
before June revisions of the indices. []
NWR plans a one-for-one share offer in connection with the
reincorporation, giving existing shareholders one share in the
new UK company for each existing share.
(Writing by Jason Hovet; Editing by Louise Heavens and Jon
Loades-Carter)
