After a continual erosion since July, South African thermal coal offers have been slowly inching up over the last month on the back of strong Asian demand, notwithstanding the slowdown in Chinese imports.
South African coal loadings this month are on course to be their highest since at least 2015, buoyed by strong demand in Asia.
South Africa has so far loaded 5.2 million tonnes (MnT) of coal in December, compared with 5.3 MnT in November and 6.5 MnT a year earlier.
But expectably, South Africa’s coal production might soon drop drastically as a result of low investment in new coal mining capacity and older mines reaching the end of their lives.
Meanwhile, a 200-wagon coal train derailed on Thursday, shutting down the rail line that links mines to the Richard’s Bay harbour, South Africa’s chief coal export terminal.
PRICE ASSESSMENTS
- RB1 (6,000 kcal/kg NAR) coal is assessed at around USD 95/MT fob Richards Bay South Africa.
- RB2 (5,500 kcal/kg NAR) coal is assessed at around USD 64/MT fob Richards Bay South Africa.
- RB3 (4,800 kcal/kg NAR) coal is assessed at around USD 50/MT fob Richards Bay South Africa.
For Indian buyers, the above offers amount to USD 109, 78 and 64/MT respectively, after charging an average freight rate of USD 14/MT for Panamax vessel type.
Source: CoalMint Research
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