CoalMint’s vessel update reveals that, between 13-17 Jul’21, three thermal coal vessels with a combined quantity of 0.20 million tonnes (mn t) from China are set to arrive at Indian ports of Dahej, Bhavnagar and Ennore.
China is a net importer of thermal coal and is dealing with shortage due to increased power demand in hotter-than-usual summer season.
However, probing further, CoalMint learned from participants that the vessels arriving from China are Australian thermal coal cargoes that were stuck at the Chinese ports for a long time amidst the ban and have been subsequently bought by Indian buyers at reasonable rates.
Australian thermal coal prices elevated
Australian thermal coal prices rose by 28% in Jun’21 amidst surging demand from Taiwan, Japan and South Korea ahead of the peak summer season. For August shipments, 5500 NAR Australian coal offers are heard at $85/tonne FoB Newcastle basis.
However, at these levels, Indian cement manufactures who had been the key importers of Australian coal till May’21, are now shying away from making any major bookings.
More so, around 0.36 mn t of Australian thermal coal is arriving at Indian ports between 8-18 Jul’21 with the highest quantity of 0.22 mn t coming for Adani Enterprise while the remaining is being bought by the players from the power and steel sectors, CoalMint’s vessel line-up reveals.
Outlook ahead
In the ongoing scenario where coal demand from the north east Asian countries remains high, liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices have escalated and there are supply concerns in Indonesia and South Africa. Hence, any chances of price correction seem unlikely in the near term.
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