The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is starting the year with a bang.
In morning trade, the coal miner's shares are up 9% to $2.85.
This means the Whitehaven Coal share price is now up 14% since this time last month.
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Why is the Whitehaven Coal share price zooming higher?
The catalyst for the strong gain by the Whitehaven Coal share price this morning has been a rise in the coal price.
This was driven by news that Indonesia, the world's largest exporter of thermal coal, has banned coal exports.
According to Reuters, Indonesia banned the shipments because of concerns it could not meet its own power demand. The country's President, Joko Widodo, has threatened to revoke business permits for any miners who fail to meet domestic market requirements.
The team at Morgan Stanley has warned that this ban could lead to "meaningful upside" to its forecast for high-quality thermal coal at the Newcastle, NSW port averaging US$140 a tonne in the first quarter of 2022.
The broker, courtesy of Bloomberg, comments: "Losing 40% of the seaborne market overnight, in the midst of peak winter demand, could set us up for another coal price spike."
Coal miners rise
It isn't just the Whitehaven Coal share price rising on the news. A number of other ASX shares with exposure to coal are also pushing higher this morning.
This includes the Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN) share price with a 3.5% gain, the New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) share price with a 4.5% gain, and the Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) share price with its gain of 6%.
All in all, this has helped drive the resources sector notably higher on Tuesday. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX 200 Resources index is up 2%, which is double the ASX 200's gain.
