Wellington, July 21 NZPA - West Coast coal miner Pike River Coal has settled the price for its premium hard coking coal at $US128 ($NZ198) per tonne for the year ended March 2010.

That level was expected, and matched prices reported by major Australian coal miners for benchmark premium hard coking coal, the company said.

The price was likely to rise next financial year as Chinese imports of hard coking coal were forecast to hit record highs of up to 17 million tonnes.

In April, Pike River said it anticipated a price of $US128 per tonne, down from the record $US300 per tonne in the 2008 Japanese fiscal year as the economic downturn reduced demand for steel, for which coking coal was used.

That was still about $US30 per tonne higher than forecast for this period at the time of the company's 2007 initial public offer.

Pike River's first 60,000 tonne shipment of coal was scheduled to leave for Japan around mid-November, about six weeks later than expected because of production delays.

The mine would be able to produce more than one million tonnes of coal a year once hydro-mining with a high-pressure water cannon began in November, chief executive Gordon Ward said.

The ventilation shaft was restored in early June after a rock fall, but minor faults in new heavy cutting machines and the need for crews to become familiar with the machines had caused some delays.

"Given the mining experience to date and the need for a reasonable level of work in stone over the next couple of months, it is prudent to apply a more conservative timeframe for completion of the ramp-up which pushes out the first coal shipment date," Mr Ward said.

The first full test run for loading export coal at the Ikamatua rail loadout facility would be in the next month.

Shares in Pike River Coal were down 2c at $1.12 in mid-afternoon trading.