For the June period, Walter reported $US678 million in revenues, up from $632 million in the first period but notably down from the $771 million it totaled during the comparable quarter of 2011.

Year-on-year, its net income also sank from $114 million to just $32 million for the period ended June 30.

Walter had 2.84 million metric tonnes of coal sales in the period just ended, versus 2.37Mt in the first quarter and 2.67Mt in the same period last year.

Production was one variable that went up for Walter in the second quarter.

Mine output rose from 2.49Mt last year to 2.91Mt. However, the total was down slightly from the first quarter, when the producer marked 2.96Mt.

“Our metallurgical coal products continued to provide solid results," chief executive officer Walt Scheller said.

“Metallurgical coal production of 2.91Mt was in-line with our expectations and was achieved while further improving our safety record.”

As many of its fellow producers are doing, Walter said it continued to pay close attention to costs.

In fact, the executive said its costs were flat between quarters, although those efforts were mitigated by higher costs in producing its low-vol PCI.

“We remain cautious for the outlook of the global economy and are focusing on cost reductions, restraining discretionary capital spending and stringently managing cash flow," he said.

Scheller did note that cost reductions had been complicated by a recent drop in prices for its metallurgical and hard coking coals, resulting in lower margins.

“The macro global economic uncertainty has hurt the outlook for global steel production," he said.

"We must clearly pay attention to the developments in Asia, particularly China demand, along with world supply over the coming months."

That close focus on the market also extended to the company’s capital expenditures. Scheller said that while capex in the second quarter was $125 million and $246 million in the first half, it had trimmed its planned 2012 expenditure budget to $400 million from about $500 million.

Walter did hold to its full-year forecast for met coal production of 11.5 to 13Mt. An estimated 75% to 80% of what will be hard coking coal and the remainder will be low-vol PCI.

"We are slowing the pace of several growth projects while maintaining optionality and investing in high return projects," chief financial officer Bill Harvey said.

Some of those cutbacks, Scheller added, had impacted its growth efforts in West Virginia.

“We had intended to start another couple of units up at our Maple mine, those have been delayed, we pulled that capital out," he said.

That adjustment will equate to the loss of 250,000t in 2012 and 500,000t next year.