Saturday, 07 Jan 2012
Reuters reported that South African physical prompt coal bids rose by around USD 1 per tonne recently as buyers began to emerge after the end year holiday hiatus.
Traders and utilities said delays of two weeks to Colombian coal shipments by Drummond and Prodeco, two of the country's biggest exporters, were a minor price-supporting factor which could turn into a more significant influence if the rains persist.
Drummond and Prodeco mines in the north of the country where rainfall has been heaviest are neighboring but Colombia's biggest exporter, Cerrejon is seeing delays of only 2-3 days on average and met its 2011 export target of 32 million tonnes.
One European utility source said "Drummond is seeing the worst delays of around two weeks, Prodeco almost as bad but even though Prodeco's coal is high-grade and some is specialist pulverised coal for steelmaking, it is important and it does matter to the market."
In the European DES ARA market a few more players were seeking February and March delivery cargoes but there was more interest in January loading South African cargoes.
Some Indian buyers enquired about Q1 cargoes FOB Richards Bay, partly concerned by indications from Indonesia that an export takes on low energy content coal will be imposed this year ahead of a proposed ban on low energy coal exports in 2014.
But traders also bid for and bought January Richards Bay cargoes, some to cover short positions, others because the very prompt market looked strong, although this could fizzle out quickly.
A European trader said "There are some shorts in the market looking for Colombian cargoes, very prompt Richards Bay, mostly traders rather than consumers."
(Sourced from Reuters)
Showing posts with label Indian and Chinese coal buyers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian and Chinese coal buyers. Show all posts
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Update on South Africa coal rail and port bottleneck
Sunday, 28 Aug 2011
Coal producers in SA have been eager to export more coal to meet rising demand from India and China but have been limited by infrastructure bottlenecks.
Below is a breakdown of port and rail infrastructure hurdles and some of the expansion plans in southern Africa.
1. State owned logistics group Transnet operates SA’s entire rail network. The company transported 62.2 million tonnes of coal to the export terminal at Richards Bay in its last financial year, far short of an expanded capacity of 91 million tonnes at the port.
The group has said it plans to raise capacity on the coal export line to 81 million tonnes by 2015, and it is studying the possibility of freeing up some 14 million tonnes of capacity on the coal line in two to three years by moving non coal cargo to a new line via Swaziland.
2. Coal producers have said they would be willing to pitch in to accelerate Transnet’s expansion and have been discussing possible deals for years. But Transnet CEO Brian Molefe in June dampened expectations that anything would happen soon, saying many such private-public deals had turned out to be disasters.
Mr Molefe said possible deals could include a partnership in which a private player would build and operate a line or Transnet would give privately owned locomotives and wagons access to its rail lines or lease them. Transnet has repeatedly questioned companies’ ability to produce the amounts they have said they would like to export.
3. Transnet is discussing the option of building a new line linking the Richards Bay terminal with the Waterberg coalfield, touted to become SA’s next major coal region, although the line is unlikely to materialise soon.
Transkalahari Rail line Construction of a railway line connecting Botswana’s Mmamabula coal field with the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, pegged at USD 10 billion is expected to start in late 2012 and take some five years. Industry said the line, to be built in a private-public partnership, should have capacity of around 50 million tons to be economically viable and robust. Namibia’s government has said that the rail line may be extended to the Zambian border to facilitate exports of Zambian minerals via Walvis Bay, including copper.
4. Richards Bay Coal Terminal is the world’s single largest export coal terminal, with an expanded capacity of 91-million tonnes. It has said it could increase capacity to beyond 110 million tonnes once volumes on the rail lines have been improved.
5. South Dunes Coal Terminal has an allocation of 6 million tonnes half of which belongs to state owned power utility Eskom.
Eskom said in November it was seeking proposals from coal producers for the use of its 3 million tonne stake.
6. Logistics group Grindrod said in June that an expansion of available coal capacity at its dry bulk terminal in Richards Bay to 3,2 million tonnes from 1,5 million should be completed within months. It said it would like to increase the terminal’s capacity by 10 million tonnes or more. Durban Bulk Connections The company operates a 3,5 million tonne export terminal from Durban. Around a million of that capacity is dedicated to coal. The company had plans to increase that capacity to 5 million tonnes and to build a new 3 million tonne coal export operation at Richards Bay but has so far failed to secure permits to do so.
MOZAMBIQUE
1. Grindrod said it had recently expanded capacity at the Matola Terminal in Maputo, Mozambique, to between 6 million tonnes and 7 million tonnes, out of which 5 million tonnes will be for coal and 2 million tonnes for magnetite. The company is now finalizing the feasibility study to potentially add 20 million tonnes to the terminal’s capacity by late 2014.
2. Beira Current coal infrastructure is limited to a capacity of 6 million tonnes on both the railway line and the Beira terminal. Riversdale’s allowance at Beira amounts to a third of that, with the remainder allocated to Brazil’s Vale, which is developing its large Moatize coal project. Studies are being conducted into expansion of the rail line and construction of a new terminal at Beira, which would have capacity of 18 million tonnes.
3. Chinde Coal producers are also looking at building a 20 million tonnes coal terminal at Chinde, north of Beira. The port’s construction is planned to coincide with the start-up of production at Riversdale’s larger Zambeze project, expected to begin producing from 2015.
4. Nacala Mozambique’s Nacala Development Corridor plans to invest USD 200 million to upgrade its port at Nacala and raise capacity to 16 million tonnes of cargo in 2030 from 1,5 million tonnes. Brazil’s Vale has said it may use Nacala as an alternative to the Beira port.
NAMIBIA
1. Walvis Bay The Walvis Bay Corridor Group, a public private partnership, plans to spend NZD 2 billion by 2014 to extend its container terminals to be able to handle larger volumes of commodities processed through the port. Other investments will entail infrastructure upgrades along the three trade corridors linking to South Africa, Angola and the copper belt in Zambia and the DRC.
(Sourced from www.businessday.co.za)
Coal producers in SA have been eager to export more coal to meet rising demand from India and China but have been limited by infrastructure bottlenecks.
Below is a breakdown of port and rail infrastructure hurdles and some of the expansion plans in southern Africa.
1. State owned logistics group Transnet operates SA’s entire rail network. The company transported 62.2 million tonnes of coal to the export terminal at Richards Bay in its last financial year, far short of an expanded capacity of 91 million tonnes at the port.
The group has said it plans to raise capacity on the coal export line to 81 million tonnes by 2015, and it is studying the possibility of freeing up some 14 million tonnes of capacity on the coal line in two to three years by moving non coal cargo to a new line via Swaziland.
2. Coal producers have said they would be willing to pitch in to accelerate Transnet’s expansion and have been discussing possible deals for years. But Transnet CEO Brian Molefe in June dampened expectations that anything would happen soon, saying many such private-public deals had turned out to be disasters.
Mr Molefe said possible deals could include a partnership in which a private player would build and operate a line or Transnet would give privately owned locomotives and wagons access to its rail lines or lease them. Transnet has repeatedly questioned companies’ ability to produce the amounts they have said they would like to export.
3. Transnet is discussing the option of building a new line linking the Richards Bay terminal with the Waterberg coalfield, touted to become SA’s next major coal region, although the line is unlikely to materialise soon.
Transkalahari Rail line Construction of a railway line connecting Botswana’s Mmamabula coal field with the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, pegged at USD 10 billion is expected to start in late 2012 and take some five years. Industry said the line, to be built in a private-public partnership, should have capacity of around 50 million tons to be economically viable and robust. Namibia’s government has said that the rail line may be extended to the Zambian border to facilitate exports of Zambian minerals via Walvis Bay, including copper.
4. Richards Bay Coal Terminal is the world’s single largest export coal terminal, with an expanded capacity of 91-million tonnes. It has said it could increase capacity to beyond 110 million tonnes once volumes on the rail lines have been improved.
5. South Dunes Coal Terminal has an allocation of 6 million tonnes half of which belongs to state owned power utility Eskom.
Eskom said in November it was seeking proposals from coal producers for the use of its 3 million tonne stake.
6. Logistics group Grindrod said in June that an expansion of available coal capacity at its dry bulk terminal in Richards Bay to 3,2 million tonnes from 1,5 million should be completed within months. It said it would like to increase the terminal’s capacity by 10 million tonnes or more. Durban Bulk Connections The company operates a 3,5 million tonne export terminal from Durban. Around a million of that capacity is dedicated to coal. The company had plans to increase that capacity to 5 million tonnes and to build a new 3 million tonne coal export operation at Richards Bay but has so far failed to secure permits to do so.
MOZAMBIQUE
1. Grindrod said it had recently expanded capacity at the Matola Terminal in Maputo, Mozambique, to between 6 million tonnes and 7 million tonnes, out of which 5 million tonnes will be for coal and 2 million tonnes for magnetite. The company is now finalizing the feasibility study to potentially add 20 million tonnes to the terminal’s capacity by late 2014.
2. Beira Current coal infrastructure is limited to a capacity of 6 million tonnes on both the railway line and the Beira terminal. Riversdale’s allowance at Beira amounts to a third of that, with the remainder allocated to Brazil’s Vale, which is developing its large Moatize coal project. Studies are being conducted into expansion of the rail line and construction of a new terminal at Beira, which would have capacity of 18 million tonnes.
3. Chinde Coal producers are also looking at building a 20 million tonnes coal terminal at Chinde, north of Beira. The port’s construction is planned to coincide with the start-up of production at Riversdale’s larger Zambeze project, expected to begin producing from 2015.
4. Nacala Mozambique’s Nacala Development Corridor plans to invest USD 200 million to upgrade its port at Nacala and raise capacity to 16 million tonnes of cargo in 2030 from 1,5 million tonnes. Brazil’s Vale has said it may use Nacala as an alternative to the Beira port.
NAMIBIA
1. Walvis Bay The Walvis Bay Corridor Group, a public private partnership, plans to spend NZD 2 billion by 2014 to extend its container terminals to be able to handle larger volumes of commodities processed through the port. Other investments will entail infrastructure upgrades along the three trade corridors linking to South Africa, Angola and the copper belt in Zambia and the DRC.
(Sourced from www.businessday.co.za)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Steam coal to beat oil and gas after Japan quake
Saturday, 30 Apr 2011
Thermal coal may outpace oil and gas this year, rising more than 30% to a record, as demand from China and India accelerates and Japan boosts imports to make up for nuclear power lost after the March earthquake.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg and IHS McCloskey, a Petersfield, England-based researcher, prices at the Australian port of Newcastle, a benchmark for Asia, may average USD 130 a metric tonnes in 2011. That compares with USD 99 a tonne last year. New York crude futures are forecast to rise 26% next year, while US natural gas will be unchanged.
Societe Generale SA said that demand for coal is increasing in China and India as the countries look to fuel economies that are outpacing the rest of the world. China’s purchases may rise by 7.8% in 2011, while India’s may climb 28% last month. Japan may consume as much as 1 million extra tonnes this year as the country turns to coal-fired plants make up for the loss of nuclear generation.
Mr Mark Pervan head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd in Melbourne said that “The demand story for thermal coal is going to look quite strong. This year we’re going to see quite an accelerated increase in demand from India. China will again be a strong contributor.”
Thermal coal will average USD 132 a tonne this year and USD 145 in 2012 as demand from Japanese utilities for fuel with high energy content rises, Daniel Brebner, an analyst for Deutsche Bank in London, said in an April 8 report. Price estimates ranged from USD 118 to USD 150 a tonne in the survey. (sourced Bloomberg)
According to data compiled by Bloomberg and IHS McCloskey, a Petersfield, England-based researcher, prices at the Australian port of Newcastle, a benchmark for Asia, may average USD 130 a metric tonnes in 2011. That compares with USD 99 a tonne last year. New York crude futures are forecast to rise 26% next year, while US natural gas will be unchanged.
Societe Generale SA said that demand for coal is increasing in China and India as the countries look to fuel economies that are outpacing the rest of the world. China’s purchases may rise by 7.8% in 2011, while India’s may climb 28% last month. Japan may consume as much as 1 million extra tonnes this year as the country turns to coal-fired plants make up for the loss of nuclear generation.
Mr Mark Pervan head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd in Melbourne said that “The demand story for thermal coal is going to look quite strong. This year we’re going to see quite an accelerated increase in demand from India. China will again be a strong contributor.”
Thermal coal will average USD 132 a tonne this year and USD 145 in 2012 as demand from Japanese utilities for fuel with high energy content rises, Daniel Brebner, an analyst for Deutsche Bank in London, said in an April 8 report. Price estimates ranged from USD 118 to USD 150 a tonne in the survey. (sourced Bloomberg)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
South African steam coal prices jump up on Egyptian crisis
Tue, Feb1, 2011
Reuters reported that prompt coal prices rose by nearly USD 3 per tonne in both swaps and physical markets on Monday, largely in response to the Egyptian crisis. Oil prices jumped in response to the Egyptian unrest. Brent traded at USD 99 a barrel.
A March delivery DES ARA cargo traded at USD 122.25, up by USD 3.
An April delivery DES ARA cargo was bid at USD 118.5 and offered at USD 122.5, up USD 2 on the bid.
A March loading South African cargo was bid at USD 122.50 up by USD 3.
Fundamentally, little has changed in the physical coal market. Demand in Europe remains minimal with the exception of Finland where some spot buying is being done. Indian and Chinese buyers remain on the sidelines waiting for prices to fall.
Prices could spike again, however, traders and utilities said, if the cyclone hits Queensland and keeps ports shut and delays repairs from December's floods or if oil shoots higher due to events in Egypt.(Reporting by Jackie Cowhig, sourced:reuters)
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