Spot thermal coal prices fell further for the week ending on 18th May as buyers in China and India were hesitant to book cargoes at the current
prices.
FOB price of Australia's Newcastle Steam Coal stands at
$96.95/MT, i.e. down by $ 1.40/MT. Similarly FOB price of South Africa's
Richards Bay fell by $ 2.34/MT to reach $94.87/MT.
Freight cost to transport coal has also fallen on Monday. South
Africa's Richards Bay to India now attracts a Supramax freight of $23.00, which
was $24.00 a week ago.
However, Chinese buyers are showing some interest to import the material as prices have cooled down quite a bit.
The weakening of Indian Rupee has discouraged buyers to place fresh orders and has also pressured charterers as it
becomes expensive for them to ship cargoes with freight rates denominated in US
dollar.
Indian rupee was trading at 54.97 to the US dollar on Monday. Last
Monday, it was trading at 53.63 and on May 23 last year, it was at 44.94.
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