For the period ending December 31, the Missouri producer reported a net loss of $US295 million, or an adjusted net loss of $89 million for the period excluding acquired sales contract amortisation, goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges and other expenses.

Regardless of what figure was used, the year-on-year comparison puts the quarter into perspective, as Arch recorded an adjusted net income of $62 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Revenues totaled $968 million, compared with $1.23 billion in the prior year. It fell short of analysts’ estimated revenues of $997.64 million.

The producer had 36.1 million tons in coal sales in the December quarter at $24.21 a ton. The figures are versus 37.5Mt sold at $25.57 a ton in the sequential quarter.

Arch also suffered a $58 million recorded charge in the final fiscal quarter due to the rejection of a customer supply contract by the federal bankruptcy court and assumption of the contract obligation by Arch.

“Arch continued to successfully execute its operational strategy and made progress on a number of fronts in the fourth quarter while weathering challenging coal market conditions," president and chief executive officer John Eaves said.

“Our Western Bituminous region delivered a record cash margin performance, and our other regions generated positive cash flow even while running at significantly reduced volume levels. In addition, we shipped 3 million tons overseas in the fourth quarter, capping a record year for company exports.”

Whole-year 2012, Arch’s adjusted net loss was $77 million, and revenues totaled $4.2 billion on coal sales of 141Mt.

In the prior year, it had $4.3 billion in revenues on 155Mt sold.

Eaves spoke to the positives of what he called a “tough 2012” for the producer, pointing out that it was able to meet several notable milestones.

“First, we delivered another strong performance in our core values of employee safety and environmental stewardship,” he said.

“Second, the company's exports rose to a record 13.6Mt in 2012, demonstrating its growing presence in the seaborne coal trade.

“Third, we further improved our operational efficiency through the consolidation of operations, strong cost control at active operations and significant reductions in capital spending [and] lastly, we further bolstered our liquidity to $1.4 billion, positioning Arch to weather near-term market headwinds and emerge from this cycle as an even stronger producer.”

Looking ahead to the New Year, Eaves said Arch was looking for a potential coal market rebound in the second half of the year.

As it waited for that to possibly play out, he said, the company would continue to run its operations in a way that would allow it to capitalize on any brighter turn.

“We are proactively responding to increased interest for Western Bituminous coal after several years of weakness,” Eaves noted.

“We are also making progress in realigning our asset portfolio in Appalachia – and expect our competitive position to be further enhanced as the Leer longwall starts up in the third quarter of 2013.

“In the Powder River Basin, we are continuing to focus on controlling costs as we manage our operations at significantly reduced production levels.”

Arch also marked safety and environmental benchmarks in 2012, recording a whole-year lost-time safety rate that was three times better than the national coal industry average.

The achievement ranked it first among the major US diversified coal miners once again – its seventh year in a row.

Arch operations earned 17 total national and state safety awards and honors over last year, including the Sentinels of Safety award.

On the environmental front, Arch received a total of seven awards at the national, state and regional levels for its reclamation and wildlife safeguarding efforts.

Arch, for one, became the first mining company to receive the Conservation Legacy Award from the National Museum of Forest Service History in 2012, and its whole-year environmental compliance rate again ranked among the best of its major US coal industry peers.

Additionally, five Arch mines and facilities attained “A Perfect Zero” – zero reportable injuries and zero environmental violations – over the course of the year.

There is no doubt, looking ahead, that Arch is seeing a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

“We are beginning to see signs of a recovery in coal markets after a very challenging 2012,” Eaves said.

“Assuming normal weather trends prevail – and economic activity continues to accelerate – we see global coal supply and demand balancing over the course of 2013, setting the stage for improved market fundamentals."

In its production outlook for the year, the producer outlines projected sales of between 133 and 144Mt, including 8 to 9Mt of metallurgical coal.

At expected volume levels, Arch said it was nearly 90% committed on thermal sales for 2013 and, given production levels for this year were below capacity, it expected cash costs per ton in each of its operating regions to be similar to those of 2012.

Chief operating officer and vice president Paul Lang said that on the thermal side of the business, Arch had layered in some sales to run its mines efficiently in 2013, but had elected to continue operating at reduced volume levels at this time.

“We have also maintained some sales leverage where we believe opportunities will present themselves over the course of 2013,” he said.

“On the metallurgical side, we have strong commitments from our North American customer base, and we have some of our higher-quality coals still available to capture potential upside in an improving seaborne marketplace.”

Eaves called 2013 a “rebalancing year” for markets both domestic and global, and said that was reflected in its outlook.

“Coal price increases are likely to follow what we expect will be improving coal supply and demand trends,” he said.

“As such, we believe our performance in the second half of 2013 is likely to be stronger than in the first half.”