Sellers raised their offer prices
for higher ash Newcastle 5,500 kcal/kg NAR (net as-received) thermal coal on
Monday to $97-99/MT FOB for March cargoes, as reports circulated in the market
that 1 million MT of production may have been lost to rainfall in the Hunter
Valley coal field last week.
A March cargo was offered for a
price of $99/MT FOB Newcastle 5,500 kcal/kg NAR on Monday, about $1-2/MT above
levels prevailing in the market Friday at $97-$98/MT FOB.
But not all market participants
were in agreement that Newcastle 5,500 kcal/kg NAR was becoming more expensive and
said Newcastle thermal coal was facing serious competition from other origins
including, Indonesian, Russian, South African and even US thermal coal.
US coal producers were trying to
export 5,500 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal with ash of under 10% to the Asia-Pacific
market, said a trader in Singapore.
One cargo of US 5,000 kcal/kg NAR
thermal coal was heard offered in the market Monday at prices in the
mid-$70s/MT FOB or low $90s/MT CFR China basis for delivery in March.
Also, lower freight costs had
made Richards Bay thermal coal an option again for Chinese traders, and two
Capesize vessels were heard fixed Monday at $12-13/MT for loading at Richards
Bay in March for the voyage to China. “Freight could work for 5,800
kcal/kg NAR Richards Bay allowing cargoes to be squeezed into China,” said
one market participant.
Source: Platts
Leave a Reply