According to Reuters, the August shipment will leave Lambert’s Point Terminal in Virginia loaded with output from the operator’s Buchanan mine in Mavisdale.

"This is one vessel. We hope it will lead to more," Consol spokesperson Thomas Hoffman told the news service, noting that the longwall mine has been running at a decreased capacity.

"It's not something you see very often just because the economics are a lot harder, particularly when you're competing with the Australians, who are much closer," he added.

As reported by Reuters, Hoffman rebuffed speculation that the producer discounted the coal due to the travel distance. Consol officials did not respond to an ILN request for more details on the deal by press time.

"We have been working with the [Norfolk Southern] railroad to come up with a competitive rate that would allow us to move coal to China," Hoffman told the wire.

"I think we got what we consider to be acceptable margins for the coal. We've been willing any time the situation requires to idle mines rather than produce coal we can't sell or have to give away."

The company said in July that its coal sales were down but it was working to restructure shipments with customers, many of which Consol has maintained long-term relationships with. For the June quarter, production from across the mining portfolio totaled 14.4 million tons, down year-on-year from 16.6Mt.

"We will match our production with actual customer shipments, so we will not build inventory,” Consol president Brett Harvey said in the company’s earnings call last month.

“When shipments rebound, so will our production."

Contracts signed in a stronger market helped strengthen Consol’s average realised price for tonnage, which for the second quarter was a mean of $56.36/t, 16% higher than last year.

Consol operates 18 mining complexes in six states. Buchanan is the operator’s only Virginia operation.