Teck Resources Limited
TECK
recently provided an update regarding its first-quarter 2022 steelmaking coal sales volumes and realized prices. Due to recent logistics disruptions in British Columbia, Canada, TECK’s steelmaking coal sales fell short of guidance. However, the company reported a higher average realized steelmaking coal price for the quarter.
The shutdown of the
Canadian Pacific Railway
‘s
CP
operations due to a wage and pension-related dispute with its union had an impact on the mining industry. Teck Resources was no exception. The company stated that rail service was impacted by its steelmaking coal operations in the Elk Valley in southeastern British Columbia. Consequently, realized first-quarter steelmaking coal sales were 6 million tons in the March-ended quarter. This fell short of the low end of the company’s guidance of 6.1-6.5 million tons and a sales volume of 6.2 million reported in the first quarter of 2021.
Teck Resources reported that the average realized steelmaking coal price in the first quarter was $357 per ton, backed by record steelmaking coal FOB prices. The sequential increase in steelmaking coal prices from $351 per ton in the fourth quarter of 2021 led to positive pricing adjustments of approximately $88 million. In the first quarter of 2021, realized steelmaking coal price was$131 per ton.
The company had reported steelmaking coal sales volumes of 5.1 million tons in the fourth quarter of 2021, which was down by 1.5 million tons from the fourth quarter of 2020, primarily due to severe weather conditions in British Columbia. Heavy rains and flooding caused rail infrastructure damage that disrupted westbound rail service in the second half of November. Even though service was partially restored in the first half of December, it did not return to full capacity prior to the 2021 end. Extreme cold and freezing conditions in southern B.C. disrupted rail and port operations again during the last week of December. This scenario escalated transportation costs for the segment.
Despite these setbacks, the Steelmaking Coal segment’s sales soared 174% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2021, mainly on high steel pricing. The segment reported an operating profit of $1,185 million against an operating loss of $70 million in the prior-year quarter.
The higher realized steelmaking coal price in the first quarter of 2022 might have negated the impact of lower volumes. Teck Resources’ results are anticipated to reflect higher copper, zinc, molybdenum and gold prices witnessed through the quarter when the company reports its first-quarter 2022 results on Apr 27.
The Zacks Consensus for the first quarter is currently pegged at $3.79 billion, suggesting year-over-year growth of 88%. The same for earnings stands at $2.16, indicating a whopping surge of 350% from 48 cents reported in the last-year quarter.
Price Performance
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The company’s shares have soared 110.6% in the past year compared with the
industry
‘s rally of 14.6%.
Zacks Rank
Teck Resources currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include
Nutrien Ltd.
NTR
and
Commercial Metals Company
CMC
.
Nutrien, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has an expected earnings growth rate of 108.7% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTR’s current-year earnings has been revised 37.4% upward over the last 60 days.
Nutrien has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 60.3%, on average. NTR has rallied around 95% in a year.
Commercial Metals, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has a projected earnings growth rate of 114.7% for the current fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMC’s current fiscal year earnings has been revised upward by 35.1% over the past 60 days.
Commercial Metals has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 13.7%, on average. CMC has gained around 43% in a year.
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