Bens Creek Regulatory News (BEN)

Prior to publication, certain information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information for the purposes of Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310. With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

8 January 2024

Bens Creek Group plc

("Bens Creek" or the "Company")

Quarterly production update

Bens Creek Group plc (AIM:BEN), the owner of a metallurgical coal mine in North America supplying the steel industry, is pleased to provide the following production update for the three-month period to 31 December 2023.

Clean tons of metallurgical coal produced in the three-month period to 31 December 2023 and the comparative three-month period to 31 December 2022 are set out in the table below:

Adam Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Bens Creek, commented: 

"We are pleased to provide our first quarterly production update."

"In the period from 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023, the Company produced 112,342 tons of clean coal, an increase of 52% on the same period last year (three months to 31 December 2022: 73,655 clean tons). The production in the three month period to 31 December 2023 is equivalent to 41% of the clean coal produced by the Company in the financial year to 31 March 2023 (272,318 clean tons)."

"We were restricted in production in November and December because of a slowdown in the availability of trains in the quarter, particularly in December, which saw a build-up in inventory to circa 90,000 tons. This was subsequently reduced to less than 60,000 tons following some deliveries being made. The reduced availability of trains was due to coal handling capacity issues at the Port of Norfolk. To partially address this the Company has been trucking some coal to its customers."

"This increased production is further enhanced by the reduction of costs per ton from June 2023, and the recent rebound in the metallurgical coal price from its lows of $191 in August 2023 to $250 at the current time."

For further information please contact: