The recent quarter output was also a 2% fall from the March quarter, however, the decline was related to the need to relocate the Mandalong longwall.

Centennial’s parent company, Thai energy giant Banpu, said the other key mines of Angus Place, Springvale and Clarence ran close to their maximum production rate during the recent quarter.

Despite the longwall move, Banpu said Mandalong was still able to achieve 1.09 million tonnes in sales, which compared to 1.54Mt clocked up in the previous quarter.

Overall the total sales volumes from its Centennial operations in New South Wales reached 3.24Mt – a 15% fall from the previous quarter and a 14% decline year-on-year.

Centennial’s coal yielded an average price of $US67.08 a tonne during the June quarter, almost 4% cheaper year-on-year while the average cost per tonne of $50.53 was only 53c higher year-on-year despite the impacts of the longwall move.

The Australian coal arm of Banpu also provided $50.14 million of gross profit during the June quarter – 30.6% lower than the corresponding period of 2013.

Overall the Banpu group had net profit of $21.02 million for the June quarter. This was a 49% increase year-on-year.

Centennial placed its Newstan underground coal mine on care and maintenance in recent weeks due to the impacts of a high Aussie dollar and low export prices.