The new metallurgical coal producing Leer longwall mine in West Virginia is also expected to start making a difference to future results.

"The December start-up of longwall operations at the Leer mine in Appalachia helped to counterbalance the impact of rail service disruptions and adverse geologic issues we faced in the fourth quarter of 2013," Arch president and CEO John Eaves said.

"Looking ahead, we expect the new Leer mine to deliver a strong return on our $400 million investment given its high quality and strategic access to seaborne markets."

Arch aims to keep its spending down as thermal coal markets further “tighten” in 2014.

It expects to sell between 124 million tons to 134Mt of thermal coal this calendar year plus ship 7.5Mt of coking coal and 8.5Mt of pulverised coal injection coal.

While struggling US coal prices have weighed into Arch’s recent results, its eighth quarterly loss in a row, Eaves flagged that "a much more balanced and dynamic market in 2014" for thermal coal was ahead during a conference call.

“As we look ahead, it’s important to remember that is coal markets recover,” Eaves also said.

Arch chief operating officer Paul Lang is expecting key customers to further draw down their stockpiles over 2014.

“On the thermal side, we continue to sell into an improving market in the Powder River Basin [operations] and expect customers to enter the market to supplement their needs as they see their stockpiles decline fairly rapidly,” He said in the conference call.

“For 2014, we are roughly 85% committed based on our current volume run rates. And currently have about half of our tons committed for 2015 delivery.”

Arch’s shares closed up 5.49%, or 22c, to $4.23 on Tuesday despite its Q4 results.