Australia: Coal Shipments Up 20% M-o-M in Dec’17

According to the vessel line-up data compiled by CoalMint Research, Coal export shipments from Australia has increased 20% M-o-M to 33.51 MnT in Dec’17 against 28.03 MnT in Nov’17.

Coal shipments during the month had also hit the record high for CY17 (Jan’17-Dec’17) at 33,506,396 MT, the previous best being 33,506,117 MT in Jul’17. Strong demand from its major coal consumers-Japan, China and India, had resulted in the notable growth in Dec’17 shipments.

Australia, the world’s largest exporter of both thermal and metallurgical grade of coal, and has exported 358.17 MnT coal in CY17 (Jan’17-Dec’17), as per the data maintained. Japan received the highest coal shipment of 117.17 MnT from the country in CY17, followed by China (76.45 MnT), India (40.16 MnT) and South Korea (38.78 MnT).

Australian Thermal Coal Benchmark Price:
The Australian government has revised the thermal coal benchmark prices for Japanese Fiscal Year (JFY) 2018 (Apr’18-Mar’19).

In the government’s Resources and Energy Quarterly report, the thermal coal benchmark for JFY 2018 was settled at USD 79/MT, lower than the JFY 2017 price of USD 84/MT.

The report suggests that the thermal coal prices are likely to ease through 2018 and early 2019, on the account of moderate demand and increased supply of coal.

The Newcastle FoB spot prices were expected to drop by 12% to an average of USD 77/MT in 2018, and by further 6% to USD 70/MT in 2019, as per the report.

Major Coal Receivers in Dec’17:
Japan remained the largest coal receiver from Australia in Dec’17 followed by China, India and South Korea.

Japanese coal import increased 10% M-o-M to 10.21 MnT in Dec’17 compared with 9.26 MnT in Nov’17.

The restocking demand for winter season pushed China to achieve their year-high coal import of 8.20 MnT in Dec’17. Imports rose 78% M-o-M compared with 4.62 MnT in Nov’17.

India, like China, had also received their highest coal shipment from Australia in Dec’17. Indian coal imports increased 27% M-o-M to 4.35 MnT during the month.

Source: GAC, CoalMint Research | Quantity in MnT