The non-coking coal prices in South Africa fluctuated this week with prices falling for the first two days and then picking up in the latter half of the week.
According to the CoalMint sources, the prices swayed due to the relentless bidding in the Richards Bay hub this week, with bids for prompt material approaching USD 90/MT, FoB basis.
With the Coronavirus outbreak in China over past one-month, Indonesian non-coking coal trade with the country have been negatively impacted and the Indonesian sellers are looking out for the other export destinations like India in order to compensate. While this can be a cause of concern for South African coal suppliers to India, it is not, as the Indonesian coal is majorly used by the Indian power generators (given its quality) and the South African coal is mainly consumed by the sponge iron manufacturers, thus supporting the S African coal prices.
The widespread flooding last month caused some disruptions to South African production and export operations, thereby supporting its prices however, there is no such reasons as of now for the high prices, quoted a market participant.
Price Assessments
RB1 (6,000 kcal/kg NAR) coal is assessed at around USD 82MT FOB Richards Bay.
RB2 (5,500 kcal/kg NAR) coal is assessed at around USD 68/MT FOB Richards Bay.
RB3 (4,800 kcal/kg NAR) coal is assessed at around USD 57/MT FOB Richards Bay.
Panamax dry-bulk shipping freight rates from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) to India are in the range of USD 14 to 14.5/MT whereas that of capsize it is in the range of USD 11-11.5/MT.
The outlook ahead
The weather conditions have improved in the country and no major supply disruption on the supply is expected. Some planned maintenances are scheduled at Richards Bay port that handles country’s most of the thermal coal exports. However, during the shutdown no trains run, it does not affect export operations because everything is pre-planned and all role players use this time for maintenance.
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