Europe ARA thermal coal trades at $105/mt for Mar-delivery

Monday, January 30, 2012, Rabi-ul-Awal 06, 1433

London (Platts)- The European-delivered CIF ARA thermal coal physical market saw a March-delivery cargo trade at $105/mt first thing Monday morning, 50 cents higher than Platts Friday 90-day assessed price, although on par with the March prompt-month assessment.

The deal for 50,000 mt of generic-origin material for delivery into Rotterdam went through via the globalCOAL screen with exchange of futures for physical terms attached. It was said to have taken place between two northwestern European utilities.

The CIF ARA market has been quiet in recent weeks, with ample stocks in ARA limiting coal demand. Physical levels have been mostly tracking the moves of the financial derivatives market, which in turn have been supported by strong macroeconomics, a higher energy complex, imminent colder weather and short-covering.

(sourced Platts)

Dollar fall boosts Euro coal prompt prices

Saturday, 28 Jan 2012

Reuters reported that US dollar fell to its lowest for almost two months on Thursday, giving a sharp boost to coal prices which have sagged this month due to weak fundamentals globally.

Two March loading South African cargoes traded early in the day at USD 108.50 and USD 108.75, up over USD 3.00 from Wednesday, bought by banks and traders, sold by a large, international trading house.

Coal swaps rallied on Thursday, bolstered by European utilities hedging dark spreads (the profit margin from using coal to generate power) and oil's rise, despite the lack of physical buying and high stockpile levels.

End users in Europe and Asia remained noticeable for the absence from the market.

Traders said that whether China resumes large scale spot buying after the New Year holidays is absolutely critical for coal price direction, regardless of the gyrations of the swaps market.

China overtook Japan as the world's largest coal importer last year after a surge in imports in the last quarter to a total of 182.4 million tonnes, nearly 11 percent up from the previous year, much of it bought on a spot basis.

One European trader said that "The dollar got hammered overnight and that's pulled commodities up including coal, but the swaps, particularly the Calendar years, have risen even more.”

(Sourced from Thomson Reuters)

Australia and Indonesia eyeing Bangladesh

Saturday, 28 Jan 2012

Australian and Indonesia coal miners are eyeing Bangladesh as a potential new market after the authorities concerned have opted to import coal, instead of exploring its domestic reserves.

Traders and experts said that meanwhile, the Bangladesh's option has also opened up scope for India to export its low quality coal to the former.

Bangladesh has been importing some 2.0 million tonnes from that country annually. Prof Mohammad Tamim, a former special assistant on energy affairs to the past caretaker government told the FE that "For power generation, we will prefer coal from Australia or Indonesia as the Indian coal is not energetic enough to serve the purpose.”

He said though the coal of South Africa is of high quality, it would be much expensive for Bangladesh.

However, a section of traders said India coal could be very much used in power plants after being blended with coal from Australia or Indonesia.

A leader of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry told the FE that "If Indian coal starts coming in a very large quantity, the already persistent large trade gap against Bangladesh will widen further enlarging, in favour of the South Asian major economy.”

However, the trade gap was expected to narrow down as India announced duty and quota free access for Bangladeshi items including 46 garment products late last year.

The ministry of commerce officials said that with the increase in exports of garment and some other items to India following its announcement about shortening its sensitive list to 25 from 480, the trade gap is expected to narrow at a quicker pace.

Currently, India exports goods worth USD 5.0 billion to Bangladesh against its import worth only USD 500 million from the latter a year, as the trade data until June last indicated.

(sourced TheFinancialExpress-bd.com)

Euro coal prices fall USD 1 per tonne with oil and low coal burn

Friday, 13 Jan 2012

Reuters reported that prompt European physical coal prices slipped by around USD 1.00 a tonne recently as utilities sold coal swaps in the face of weak coal burn across most of northern Europe after the warmest winter for 30 years.

Traders and utilities said a USD 1.00 fall in oil prices as risk aversion returned to the market and a rise in oil stockpiles in the US also helped pull coal lower.

One European utility source said "There was a lot of utility selling earlier today, everybody's got too much coal and the burn outside of southern Europe has been poor."

A European trader said "Oil fell, swaps fell and a lot of people backed off as a result."

No fixed price trades were reported.

(Sourced from Reuters)

Steam coal prices rise on weekend on short covering

Monday, 09 Jan 2012

Reuters reported that prompt physical coal prices rose by 50-75 US cents a tonne on Friday as players covered short positions and Indian buying showed signs of picking up after several months of a lull.

Traders and utilities in Europe short of Colombian tonnes due to delays to shipments from two of the country biggest exporters, Drummond and Prodeco have been seeking replacement cargoes helping to bolster DES ARA prices.

Suppliers said the gap between South African physical prices and API4 coal swaps has narrowed substantially, enough to tempt Indian trade buyers back into the market.

Traders and utilities said South African coal supply for January is extremely tight, exporters. Almost nothing is available now for January and shrinking volumes for February.

They said the unusually high size of this prompt bid a bid or offer for more than a cape worth is almost unheard of versus the offer for only part of the tonnage sought is the best visible indicator of the market tightening.

Indian cement and sponge iron makers have this week bought several prompt South African cargoes and are seeking more, but the power sector is still squeezed between fixed electricity tariffs, strong coal prices and the weak rupee.

(Sourced from Reuters)

Morocco's JLEC launches three Panamax thermal coal tenders: trade

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Moroccan generator Jorf Lasfar Energy has issued a tender for three 60,000 mt Panamax cargoes of thermal coal for March, April and May delivery, according to market sources.
The tender called for thermal coal with a minimum calorific value of 5,800 kcal/kg NAR, minimum 9% ash and maximum 1% sulfur.

One trader said it was "strange" that JLEC had lowered its typical sulfur content requirement from 1.5% to 1%, saying that he assumed it was because the generator had concluded a recent supply contract with a Russian producer and needed more lower-sulfur material.
Bids are due by December 20 and valid until December 22.

JLEC last month awarded a tender for four Panamaxes for delivery in January-April to a Switzerland-based trader-producer at a price in the region of $115.50-115.90/mt CIF Jorf Lasfar, according to traders.
JLEC regularly tenders for spot shipments for its coal-fired plant, which has an installed capacity of 1,372 MW, providing around one third of Morocco's electricity supply.

Source: Platts

Euro Coal-Prices dip despite oil steadying

Sunday, Dec11, 2011

* Danube water levels rise
* Japanese start term contract talks

LONDON (Reuters) - Physical prompt coal prices dipped slightly on Friday after a week of limited activity which left coal tracking oil and currencies while fundamentals took a back seat.

Oil prices steadied at around $108 on Friday after the euro zone agreed closer fiscal union to save its currency.

Coal trading activity has already fallen off considerably ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays - both end-users and suppliers have squared their books and have little appetite for new business, traders and utilities said.

Aside from some Indian tenders for supply through 2012, there has been little evidence of consumer buying interest this week in either Europe or Asia.

Water levels on Germany's Danube river have recovered to levels which allow fully-loaded barges to sail but unless there is an unexpectedly harsh winter, utilities said they are unlikely to buy more spot coal in December and January .

China, the key spot buyer this year, is still enquiring for prompt cargoes but new deals are not being done.

Stockpiles remain high at Chinese ports and there is a lot of wrangling between suppliers and importers over who pays the hefty demurrage costs for vessels forced to wait before discharging cargo, suppliers said.

Chinese thermal coal inventories are currently around 16 days and utilities are not in urgent need of supply .

Australian coal prices FOB Newcastle have remained flat at around $111 a tonne and are likely to remain at that level or drift slightly lower over the holiday period.

Negotiations between Japanese utilities and Australian suppliers for term contracts have already begun and suppliers are in no rush to settle because spot prices are $20 below the current 2011 contract price which was a record $129.85.

"A lot of people are already on holiday and that's reflected in the lack of bids and offers in Europe. The market's looking rather weak in the Atlantic and Pacific, it's been supported by oil and little else recently," one major European trader said.

"Chinese buyers are still enquiring and there is still some buying taking place," another trader said.

PRICES

A January loading South African cargo was bid at $101.50 and offered at $102.75, down 50 cents on the offer. A February South African cargo was bid at $100.00 and offered at $102.75, down $1.00 on the bid. A January delivery DES ARA cargo was offered at $110.50, down $1.00. A February DES ARA cargo was bid at $111.25 and offered at $111.75, down 25 cents.

(sourced Reuters)

NTPC floats tender for importing 4 mt of coal

New Delhi, Nov. 21:

NTPC Ltd has floated a tender on Monday for importing 4 million tonnes of coal to bridge the shortfall of the fuel from domestic sources.

The country's biggest power producer has decided to import the coal directly, rather than depend on designated trading agencies, to cut down on delays. Coming at a time when the rupee has weakened sharply against the dollar, higher coal imports by NTPC could spell bad news for consumers as the move could impact power tariffs. NTPC consumes around 164 million tonnes of coal a year to fire over two-thirds of its installed generation capacity of around 35,000 MW.

The imported coal is to be used across 14 of the power major's thermal stations in the coming months. NTPC is already in a pact to import around 12 million tonnes of coal through State Trading Corporation. The new tender, along with the STC contract, would make up the company's coal import target of 16 million tonnes set for the current fiscal.

In the coming future, NTPC is looking at striking long-term contracts spanning 25 years for sourcing 10-15 million tonnes to ensure steady supplies and lower price volatility.

NTPC's average imported coal blending during 2010-11 was close to 8 per cent in comparison to about 6.5 per cent in the previous year. This could be much higher this year, as the domestic coal shortage is only getting worse and imports are surging.

In the long-term, the state-owned power utility aims to meet about 20 per cent of its coal needs through captive mines by 2017. The Centre has allotted seven mines to NTPC, including two blocks to be developed through joint ventures.

(sourced BusinessLine)

China credit squeeze hits coal price

Saturday, 05 Nov 2011

According to producer and traders, Chinese private traders' struggle to open letters of credit during the past three weeks has been the primary cause of the 8% fall in coal prices seen since the start of October.

They said coal prices will not recover until China resumes buying in force. Thermal coal benchmark prices have lost nearly USD 10 a tonne since the start of October since China which had been almost single handedly absorbing the world surplus spot coal, stepped out of the market.

They said a similar pattern has developed in coking coal, iron ore and base metals buying.

Chinese coal importers often private companies who act as agents for a group of state utilities have continued to enquire for spot cargoes and have told suppliers they should be able to start buying again within a week or two.

China has been raising interest rates and banks' reserve requirement ratio to fight inflation. Premier Mr Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday it will remain the government's top priority.

Chinese importers said that a few of them have asked to delay shipments because of high stockpiles. The spot coal tonnage traded globally which drives the benchmark prices is a tiny portion of annual seaborne trade in excess of 750 million tonnes and but China buying this year of cargoes which had nowhere else to go has been a huge price influence without China, prices would have slipped a lot sooner.

China September coal imports were a record 19.1 million tonnes including over 900,000 tonnes from South Africa. October and November imports are expected to show a steep fall.

1. All imports hit

Mr Colin Hamilton Macquarie analyst said "Credit restrictions are affecting everything that is imported. He said that restrictions were more severe earlier in October but the situation is starting to ease now.”

He added that "The last couple of weeks have been tough for credit, they've really screwed it down banks are telling their clients they don't have enough cash for them to allow new LCs to be opened and without that, they can't buy, one major coal trader who supplies the Chinese market. It's starting to ease up now, but in another week or so we'll know if that is the case because buying will resume."

According to another supplier of large volumes to China importers want the coal and are mostly managing to open LCs just in time for shipment.

He said that "A month ago the were opening LCs 45 days prior to shipment and now its about 10 days prior quite tight timing but it's working and nobody's asked us to delay yet."

2. Shadow Banks Pressured

One major South African exporter said "This seems purely a credit issue, the shadow banks are having their wings clipped and people who are intermediaries for state end users need credit and at lease some of the coal bought and due to be shipped soon was financed by shadow banks."

He said that "Shadow banks lend at a higher rate of interest and then pass that on at an even higher rate and this sector is under pressure."

Companies which have been regular suppliers of South African, Colombian, Indonesian and Australian coal to China this year said the hiatus in Chinese buying did not seem to be a straight exercise to bring prices down before swooping in to buy on a large-scale.

One said "If they wanted to play price games then they'd say they couldn't open older LCs at higher prices but could open a new lower-priced LC and that's not happening."

However, the fall in prices which kicked in swiftly as soon as importers began to feel the credit squeeze is likely to be an accidental benefit for the importers.

Any cooling in Chinese commodity spot buying tends to give the suppliers who have grown to depend upon it a nasty shock but sellers are interpreting the current slowdown as temporary, citing steady enquiries for thermal, coking coal and iron ore.

Producers and traders said coking coal prices have also started to soften in the past month but the outlook is positive.

A UK based coking coal physical trader said "When the market sentiment changes coking coal will be one of the first commodities to see a strong price increase coking coal is in very short supply."

A European steel derivatives trader said "I don't think coking coal prices are going to have the same drop as iron ore prices did, I think that train has run its course."

(sourced from Vancouversun)

Euro Coal-Prices dip, trade remains thin

Wed Oct 12, 2011

* Nov S.African trades at $112.50/T
* Oil rises but coal fails to follow

LONDON Oct 12 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal prices fell slightly by around 25 U.S. cents a tonne on Wednesday after a day of quiet trade.

Few bids, offers or trades were reported in Europe, although South Korea and China have continued to quietly buy prompt cargoes, traders said.

"It's hard to see the market's direction clearly," said Emmanuel Fages, analyst with Societe Generale in Paris.

Coal has largely been immune to the sharp movements seen in other markets although prices have drifted lower by around $15 a tonne during the past two months.

Brent crude oil rose on Wednesday, lifted by news Slovakian lawmakers will approve a plan to expand powers in the euro zone rescue fund.

European demand has been minimal aside from the regular spot buying by one major utility which is always short physical coal but the pace of buying has picked up in Asia.

TRADES

A November loading South African cargo traded at $112.50 a tonne, up around 25 cents.

A December delivery DES ARA cargo traded at $119.50.

(sourced Reuters)

Coking coal imports slip on costlier dollar, poor demand

Wed,October 12, 2011
By Sadananda Mohapatra

Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar: Coking coal imports dropped for the first time in last three months despite price fall in global markets as costlier dollar and an ailing steel industry demand squeezed import orders, said experts and traders.

In April-September period, coking coal imports through Kolkata and Haldia was 2.83 million tonne, down by 16 per cent compared with the same period last year. Imports at Visakhapatnam port dropped by 15.3 per cent and at Paradip, the decline was 3.3 per cent for the same period, data from Indian Ports Association showed.

These three eastern Indian ports account for almost 60 per cent of India's coking coal import. In April-September, total imports declined by 0.4 per cent year on year, after growing 2.3 percent in April-August and 9.3 per cent in April-July period.

"The main reason for coking coal import drop is the depreciation of rupee against the dollar. The rupee has weakened by almost 6 per cent in the last month. Even though coking coal rates have gone down in dollar terms in global markets, Indian importers were unable to take the opportunity as dollar became costlier here,” said Sandeep Jain, commodity analyst with Karvy Comtrade.

Coking coal is currently priced at $280 per tonne, down from $310 a tonne in July-August. The rates have come down as supply has improved from major exporter Australia after devastating flood there affected production in January.

India imports coking coal mainly from Australia and Indonesia to feed its speedily expanding steel industry. Of late, steel mills in India are running below their normal capacity because of shortage of iron ore availability as restrictions in major producing states like Orissa and Karnataka brought down productions.

"Steel industry demand for coke has come down given the higher rates for iron ore. Some steel plants have raised steel prices while traders are importing steel, which gives better return than coking coal imports,” said Arun Bhattoria, a Kolkata-based coal trader. (sourced BS)

GMR plans coal trade to boost revenue

Wednesday, 24 Aug 2011

GMR Infrastructure which already has coal mines in Indonesia and South Africa, recently added another Indonesian mine to its portfolio.

Last week, the company agreed to acquire 30% in PT Golden Energy Mines. The new mine comes with an offtake agreement giving it additional security for its projects that already have linkages and supplies in place. Back home, however, the company does not have any imported coal based power project at present.

The latest acquisition comes at a time when its earlier coal acquisitions are coming of age. The company’s fully owned Greenfield PT Barasentosa Lestari in Indonesia, is all set to start commencing production next month. The coal will be sold in the local market.

Mr A Subba Rao CFO of GMR Infra said that “If Coal India decreases production, we will use the extra coal to power our coal-based plants. If the supply to our projects is on track, we will use the extra coal for trading.”

Mr Rao said that “Initially, a few lakh tonnes of coal will be produced, but production will be ramped up to a million tonnes a year. The reserves there are huge, at around 110 million tones.” He claimed they are ready to increase production to three million tonnes, should necessity arise.

(sourced BS)

Great Lakes coal shipment in July fell by 25pct YoY

Tuesday, 16 Aug 2011

Shipments of coal on the Great Lakes totaled 3.1 million tonnes in July 2011, up by 58,000 tonnes over June 2011, but a decrease of approximately 25% YoY as compared to a year ago and the month's 5 year average.

Loadings at Lake Superior ports fell almost 31% as compared to a year ago. Shipments from Lake Michigan terminals increased marginally. Loadings at Lake Erie docks slumped almost 20%.

YTD, the coal trade stands at 12.7 million tonnes, a decrease of 14% YoY. Shipments are nearly 29% off the 5 year average for the January to July 2011 timeframe.

Lake Carriers' Association represents 17 American companies that operate 55 US flag vessels on the Great Lakes and carry the raw materials that drive the nation's economy, iron ore and fluxstone for the steel industry, aggregate and cement for the construction industry, coal for power generation. Collectively, these vessels can transport more than 115 million tonnes of cargo per year when high water offsets lack of adequate dredging.

(Sourced from Lake Carriers' Association)

European coal prices unaffected by SA miners strike - Report

Saturday, 30 Jul 2011 | By Montel

European coal prices have been mostly unaffected by an ongoing strike by South African miners, as stockpiles are healthy and demand low.

A German utility trader said that "At the moment, the impact is negligible." He added that physical prices rose USD 0.50 last week in anticipation of the strike, which started at the weekend.

The German trader said that most South African coal companies have stock to work through. Stocks at the main Richards Bay port terminal are around 3 million tonnes, agreeing the mines themselves held plenty of stock and transport links have not been affected by the strike action. He said that "The situation could get critical after two weeks."

An Iberian trader said that "I think it would have more impact if the strike continues, and China and India start buying." She added that however, there is currently little demand in Europe and very little activity during the summer holiday period in July and August.

She said that coal is currently very correlated with range bound German power and emissions, with no strong coal fundamentals that could move the curve. While the market is flat as a pancake at the moment, attention is being paid to fluctuations in the euro/dollar rate, with a weaker dollar the main reason for a rise in API 2 Cal 12 coal above USD 128 per tonne at the end of last week.

The German trader said that the contract should remain range bound between USD 127 to USD 129 per tonne.


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Euro coal June DES ARA trades at USD 128 per tonne

Monday, 28 Mar 2011

Traders and utilities said that prompt European physical coal prices held steady again on Friday, held up more by strong swaps values than physical demand.

Utility sources said that demand for coal in Europe has shrivelled now that German utilities have bought what they need for the near-term and stockpiles in France, Britain and Scandinavia are fairly high.

A European utility source said that "We're still getting offers of almost every type of coal but there's nowhere to put it even if the discount to API2 drops further and we were tempted to buy.”

Prices of close to USD 130.00 a tonne DES ARA do not reflect the abundance of coal supply in Europe but have been hoisted to that level by strong coal swaps prices.

Traders said that swaps have been reacting more to oil volatility and Middle East unrest plus an improvement in the dark spread the profit to be made from generating using coal as fuel, rather than fundamental factors.

One trader said that "Europe is horrible at the moment. Nobody's buying anything, not even the Scandinavians.”

Low water levels on the Rhine and Danube rivers mean barges carrying coal cannot sail fully loaded. This is also dissuading German buyers from taking more prompt coal at present.

In Asia the market seems to be rebalancing quickly after the initial panic about distressed cargoes as a result of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. (sourced Thomson Reuters)

Australia thermal coal prices steady

8 Mar 2011 , 9:00 PM,

Australia's thermal coal prices, a benchmark for Asia, were steady last week in a quiet market as most players waited on the sidelines for the settlement of the Japanese annual thermal coal contract.

Thermal coal on the globalCOAL Newcastle index for the week to date was $US130.75 per tonne on Monday, relatively unchanged from $132 a week earlier and up slightly from $129.48 on Friday.

"It's hard to tell if there's any movement in the current period, it's a little bit quiet, the price is quite stable," one Sydney-based trader said.

Large Japanese utilities Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), Tohoku Electric Power Co Inc and Chubu Electric , negotiate April-to-March fiscal year thermal contracts with Xstrata, the world's largest exporter of thermal coal.

The contracts are generally around spot price levels, often with a supply security premium.

"Overall, the market is still tight in the Pacific, so miners have a strong negotiation position," one Singapore-based trader said.

Trade sources said that bids and offers stood about $US10 apart, with Xstrata said to be offering a price of $US140 per tonne and Japanese utilities countering with a $US130 per tonne bid.

Although still far apart, the parties were closer than a few weeks ago when the offer was said to be at $US145 per tonne, with utilities saying they would only be willing to pay $US125 per tonne.

Chinese demand for imported coal continued to be thin, with supplies in the world's number one producer and consumer of coal outstripping demand.

Chinese coal with a heating value of 5,500 kcal/kg was flat at 770 to 780 yuan.

As coal prices in Australia have risen, the arbitrage between Chinese coal prices and Australian imports are at the widest since September 2008.

Indian buyers were back in the market for Indonesian coal, traders said, with deals for 4,900 kcal/kg done for around $US80 per tonne.

Week ahead

Xstrata will head to Japan next week to meet Japanese utilities and all eyes will be on the annual contract talks, which are often used as a benchmark for other deals.

The market will also continue to watch for increasing demand from China and India. (Reuters)

Tags : globalCOAL NEWC Index, benchmark for Asia, Newcastle index, spot prices

Australian FOB Newcastle coal bid up to USD 147 per tonne

Friday, 25 Feb 2011

Prompt physical coal prices rose around USD 2.00 on Tuesday following another hike in oil prices due to continued Libyan unrest but Australian FOB Newcastle prices soared to USD 147.50, up from a trade at USD 132 earlier in the day.

Newcastle FOB prices have risen by around $15.00 in the past 10 days on tight supply. Libyan unrest and rising oil prices have been the main drivers behind the general coal price rise but the Newcastle market seems genuinely tight and set for higher prices, far stronger than the South African or delivered Europe markets. Australian coal supply is still recovering after floods earlier in the year and producers as well as end-users and traders are seeking prompt cargoes. This was helping to keep Newcastle prices firm before the violent protests erupted in Libya.

VTB Capital Research said that "Prices rose 40% due to Queensland flooding and have now consolidated, but with increased Chinese and Indian demand likely in the remainder of the year, we think the market will tighten further and move higher again. A lot of companies we've never heard of, Indian and Chinese firms mostly, have been in the market looking for South African, Indonesian, Australian coal, at cheap prices because they don't believe the current Newcastle numbers.”

Annual Japanese price settlements are widely expected to match or even exceed 2008's record USD 125 per tonne FOB because the Pacific market is set for tight supply and strong demand overall this year More than 8% of Libya's 1.6 million barrels per day of oil production has been shut down by the political violence and the country's marine terminals were disrupted by a lack of communications Physical coal supply and demand has been unaffected by events in Libya shipping has not been disrupted and Libya neither exports nor imports coal.

Traders and utilities said that but the coal market is sometimes extremely sensitive to moves in other energy markets, particularly oil, and that is the case at present because there are still many players with long positions to defend against slumping prices.

One European market source said that "It's all Libya again, Libya and higher oil prices which means higher coal prices but hardly anybody's buying coal.” (Reuters)

Tags: VTB Capital Research, Chinese, Indian demand

Australia steam coal index jumps to AUD 136 per tonne

Friday, 25 Feb 2011

Australia's thermal coal index, a benchmark for Asia jumped AUD 9 to over AUD 136 per tonne boosted as tight supply boosted prices amid the annual negotiations for the Japanese fiscal year coal contract.

Thermal coal prices on the weekly index closed at AUD 136.50 per tonne for the week to date on Monday, up sharply from AUD 126.28 a week earlier as tight supplies led desperate buyers to raise their bids.

One trader said that "It's getting very hard to get coal from some producers describing the rise in prices as the perfect storm for a higher Japanese fiscal year contract price to be set. Negotiations for the Japanese fiscal year thermal coal contract began last week and the price this year is widely expected to match or exceed the 2008 record price of AUD 125 per tonne due to upward to upward pressure from floods in Australia's Queensland State as well as production disruptions elsewhere.

Another Asia based trade source said that some coal traders said that although little coal was available, not many buyers are willing to pay such an elevated price and that actual deals were few and far between.

He added that "There are not a lot of tons around, I agree, but by the same token I'm not necessarily sure that the Japanese or anyone is really that desperate.” (Reuters)

South African and European coal price rose due to unrest in Libya

Wednesday, 23 Feb 2011

Reuters reported that prompt physical coal prices for South African and delivered Europe cargoes rose by up to USD 1 in line with oil prices which hit a 2 and a half year high due to unrest in Libya.

Traders said that the whole energy complex strengthened in reaction to the Libyan situation. European power forward prices also rose sharply, spurred by gains in oil, gas, carbon and coal.

One European trader said that "Nobody's buying coal in Europe or Asia but the market is still going up, following oil."

Clashes in oil producer Libya pushed benchmark Brent crude to over USD 105 a barrel on fears of oil supply disruption.

Earlier this month, coal analysts had warned that spreading Middle East unrest could have a significant impact on coal prices by causing oil price spikes.

Aside from pockets of demand in countries which need more coal-fired power, such as Finland or Turkey, European spot demand has been minimal for the past few weeks.

(Sourced:reuters)

Indonesia approves more permits to ease coal, metals ship delays

Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:43am GMT
* Govt approves export permits for another 29 firms
* Backlog on coal shipments remains
* Some traders borrowing permits to ship coal (Adds trader quotes, details)
By Fitri Wulandari

JAKARTA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia has approved permits for 29 more firms to resume coal and metals exports, paving the way for traders and producers to begin clearing a backlog of shipments at the country's ports, a trade ministry official said on Friday.

Up to 3.5 million tonnes of coal shipments, destined to fuel power stations in China and India, have been delayed in recent weeks because of changes to coal and mining laws that required cargoes to undergo extra surveys in a bid to stem tax evasion.

With the latest set of approvals, a total of 81 firms are now allowed to resume exports, after 52 companies were given approval earlier this month, said Junaedi, head of the mining exports unit at the ministry.

Indonesia's trade ministry ordered surveyors in January to temporarily halt issuing surveyor reports to coal and mineral traders in the process of reapplying for trading permits under the new coal and mining law.

"The energy ministry notified us that they have issued trading permits for (an additional) 29 mining firms," said Junaedi, who like many Indonesians only has one name.

As part of obtaining export permits, Indonesia has required exports of mining products including coal and tin to be checked by surveyors, as the country seeks to keep illegal mining in check and boost revenue from the sector.

Surveyor reports, required for shipping coal and metals, show the origin of the cargoes and are used to calculate royalties.

Despite the 81 permits that have been issued, a backlog of cargoes still remains, with some shippers still waiting for export permits from the energy ministry, traders and shipping sources said.

Some desperate traders have also borrowed export permits from other shippers who have already obtained them.

"Some traders have submitted requests for the permit two months ago and they haven't got it," a port source said.

"So instead of waiting for the permit to be issued, they just ship the coal under the name of another shipper that already has the permit," the source said.

But traders could not give details how many vessels are still being held up in ports around Indonesia, the world's top thermal coal exporter that is expected to produce 340 million tonnes of coal this year.

Previously, the Indonesian Coal Mining Association said around 60 to 70 vessels or 3.5 million tonnes of coal were backed up in Indonesian ports.

"There is a backlog and vessel waiting times are up to about 20 days, which is pretty high for Indonesia," a trade source in Singapore said.

"From what I hear, there are a couple of ways to get around it...you can just borrow a miner's license and pay him," the source said. (Additional reporting by Yayat Supriatna in JAKARTA, and Rebekah Kebede in PERTH; Editing by Neil Chatterjee, sourced:reuters)

Tags:Indonesia approves exports permits,coal traders,firms,backlog, coal shipment, ship coal,coal and mining laws,cargoes surveys, stem tax,energy ministry,Indonesian Coal Mining Association