The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is going from strength to strength.
Whitehaven shares closed on Friday trading for $7.36, which set a new closing high on the day. Shares are currently trading for $7.53, up 2.3% even as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dips 0.8% lower.
If the Whitehaven share price can hold onto its gains, it will close out the day for yet another new record high.
What's piquing ASX 200 investor interest?
ASX 200 investors have been bidding up the Whitehaven share price amid soaring global demand for coal. Demand that has seen coal prices break into their own all-time high territory.
According to Trading Economics, Newcastle coal futures are currently trading at US$416 per tonne. To give you some idea of just how pricey that is, and how profitable it is to companies like Whitehaven, on 1 January this year that same tonne of coal was priced at US$130.
Coal prices, alongside oil and gas, had already been tracking higher heading into 2022 as the world reopened from its lengthy pandemic slowdown. Rising demand was met with limited new supply, following years of underinvestment in the carbon-intensive sector.
Coal prices, and the Whitehaven share price, received another push higher following Russia's invasion of Ukraine amid direct disruptions from the war alongside ensuing Western embargos on Russian energy exports.
With coal prices at record levels, Whitehaven has forecast a matching record full-year result. The ASX 200 energy share releases those earnings results this Thursday.
Whitehaven Coal is projecting to deliver its strongest ever full-year result.
Whitehaven share price snapshot
The Whitehaven share price has been a stellar performer over the past 12 months, rocketing 231% higher. For some context, the ASX 200 is down 6% over the full year.
As for the broader energy sector, the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) has gained 45% in 12 months.
