whitehaven coal ltd on friday said its secondquarter coal output fell by 4 onquarter as the miner continued to grapple with wet weather but that coal sales increased and prices remained strong the australian mining company said it expects to report firsthalf earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization of 26 billion australian dollars 18 billion up from roughly a600 million a year ago whitehaven reported saleable coal production of 405 million metric tons for the three months through december down from 421 million tons in the quarter immediately prior saleable coal production was down 4 primarily due to fewer coal processing days because of floodingrelated loss of access to open cut sites and the gunnedah coal handling and preparation plant said the miner economywide labor shortages also remain an issue for our operations whitehavens managed sales of produced coal rose by 16 to 427 million tons the miner said it received an average coal price of a527 a ton for the quarter compared with a581ton the three months prior taking the companys firsthalf average to a recordhigh a552 a ton