ASX coal shares are tumbling on Thursday, led by Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL), with a 13% fall to $5.27 per share after the stock went ex-dividend today.
The primary driver of the broader fall in ASX coal shares today is weak commodity prices.
Newcastle coal futures hit a four-year low of US$99 per tonne on 28 February.
The commodity rebounded a little, but today, it's not much higher at US$101.50 per tonne.
This followed a 3.24% fall overnight.
Newcastle coal futures are down 19% in the year to date and 22.5% over the past 12 months.
What's happening with ASX coal shares today?
The weaker coal price overnight has led to a slump in ASX coal shares today.
Yancoal is the biggest faller within the ASX 200 today, with its share price currently down 12.98% to $5.27.
New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC) shares hit a two-and-a-half-year low of $3.75 earlier today. The ASX coal share is currently trading at $3.80, down 6.99%.
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) shares are down 5.53% to $5.55.
Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN) shares are down 5.14% to 52 cents per share.
Shares in diversified miner South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) are down 1.82% to $3.52.
Trading Economics analysts say reduced production from a few global miners has temporarily mitigated market concerns about an oversupply.
But looking longer term, the oversupply is a real threat.
China has announced a 1.5% expansion of its coal output to 4.82 billion tonnes this year after a record year of production last year.
Indonesian coal production also rose to a record high of 836 million tonnes last year, which was 18% above the nation's targeted output.
Some global coal miners are considering shutting down parts of their operations, given falling commodity prices.
Last month, The Australian reported that Glencore would likely continue to run its Australian mines but is considering shutting down in other parts of the world following a fall in profits.
When will Yancoal shares pay the next dividend?
Last month, Yancoal reported a full-year FY24 revenue of $6.86 billion, down from $7.78
billion in 2023.
The decrease followed a 14% lift in attributable coal sales but a 24% decrease in the realised coal price.
Yancoal said its operating EBITDA margin of 37% "demonstrates Yancoal's capacity to deliver a strong financial performance at lower coal prices".
Yancoal will pay a final fully franked dividend for FY24 of 52 cents per share on 30 April.
This is the only dividend that the ASX coal share paid for FY24.
The Yancoal board did not pay an interim dividend to retain cash "for potential corporate initiatives".
This means the final FY24 dividend also represents the total annual payout for 2024. That creates a trailing dividend yield on Yancoal shares of 9.87%.
The Yancoal share price has fallen by 18% in the year to date.
The ASX coal share is down 1% year-over-year.
