TABLE-Japan's December and 2011 coking coal imports by source

Mon Jan 30, 2012

TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Following is a table of customs-cleared coking coal imports for December
released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on Monday.Figures are converted from yen to U.S. dollars using Japan Customs' official conversion rate. Volumes areexpressed in tonnes.

Country         Dec       Dec          Nov       Nov    M/M   Yr/Yr          YTD        YTD   TD (Yr/Yr %)
                                                                                                               
        Name       Tonnes  $/Tonne       Tonnes   $/Tonne      %       %        Tonnes    $/Tonne        Tonnes
       China      77,351    171.74       23,973    178.00   222.7     6.8   1,098,188     251.31            82.2
   Indonesia   1,145,693    136.19    1,444,516    150.04   -20.7   -17.0  14,655,845     133.35           -18.4
       India           -                      -                                     3   6,448.47           -99.9
      Russia     141,643    214.63      204,243    255.27   -30.6     0.7   2,527,126     249.75            10.0
      Canada     672,571    300.59      429,324    287.53    56.7   -18.4   7,344,661     274.40           -14.2
         USA     362,264    319.31      682,146    294.51   -46.9    36.1   5,725,355     268.03           111.9
      Mexico           -                      -                                75,764     304.83         
    Colombia           -                      -                                61,844     300.11         
   Australia   2,577,034    244.27    3,784,261    263.13   -31.9   -33.5  36,737,577     246.97           -16.5
 New Zealand     165,402    276.60            -                               418,422     256.38           -11.8
       Total   5,141,958    231.98    6,568,463    242.56   -21.7   -21.6  68,644,785     227.74           -10.5
 
  (Sourced Reuters)

Indian coking coal imports in October grew by 80pct YoY

Monday, 16 Jan 2012

Motilal Oswal has given its views on December 2011 cargo traffic. The same is as follows

In October 2011, coking coal imports grew 80% YoY to 2.6 million tonnes (v/s 1.3 million tonnes YoY), primarily due to the increase in steel production. Non coking coal imports grew 100% YoY to 3.5 million tons (v/s 1.7 million tonnes YoY).

The overall domestic non coking coal production declined during the month, given (1) 15 day delay in production at Coal India due to the lag effect of the monsoons, and 1 day strike, (ii) strike in the Andhra region, due to prevailing Telangana issue. Overall availability of non coking coal dropped in the domestic market, leading to greater use of imported coal.

(Sourced from IRIS)

Isdemir to maintain coking coal purchases in 2012

Friday, 09 Dec 2011

According to preliminary data, in 2012 Turkish steelmaker Isdemir plans to keep coking coal purchases at this year’s level of 3 million tonne. Nevertheless, the volumes may be lower if coke production is reduced. The material is imported from Australia, the USA and Canada.

According to available information, Isdemir operates 4 coke batteries with a total designed capacity of 2 million tonne per year. The company is running two blast furnaces with a total capacity of 3.6 million tonne per year and is self sufficient in coke. The leftover is shipped to Erdemir.

(Sourced from www.arabsteel.info)

Japan's Oct coking coal imports by source

Tue Nov 29, 2011

TOKYO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Following is a table of coking coal imports for October released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on Tuesday.

Figures are converted from yen to U.S. dollar using Japan Customs' official conversion rate. Volumes are expressed in tonnes.

Country          Oct        Oct         Sept        Sept     M/M    Yr/Yr            YTD         YTD   YTD (Yr/Yr %)
                                                                                                                       
      Name        Tonnes   $/Tonne       Tonnes     $/Tonne       %        %          Tonnes     $/Tonne         Tonnes
     China       44,482     287.83        3,287      274.62   1253.3    -23.5       996,864      258.15             87.9
 Indonesia    1,142,354     151.42    1,154,996      146.26     -1.1      6.5    12,065,636      131.24            -19.6
     India            2   6,043.02            -                                           3    6,407.87            -99.9
    Russia      223,174     293.21      259,476      272.16    -14.0    -26.1     2,181,240      251.13             13.3
    Canada      853,930     312.26      440,902      313.80     93.7    177.6     6,242,766      270.58            -13.3
       USA      379,980     294.53      227,390      264.14     67.1     10.4     4,680,945      260.72            106.1
    Mexico            -                       -                                      75,764      302.91         
  Colombia            -                       -                                      61,844      298.22         
 Australia    3,150,070     276.35    3,285,048      273.25     -4.1    -19.8    30,376,282      245.34            -16.8
ew Zealand            -                       -                        -100.0       253,020      246.97            -46.7
                                                                                                         
     Total    5,793,992     258.94    5,371,099      248.83      7.9     -5.6    56,934,364      225.78            -11.0
 
 
(Sourced Reuters)

Japan's Sept coking coal imports by source

Sat,Oct29, 2011

TOKYO(Reuters) - Following is a table of coking coal imports for September released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on Friday.

Figures are converted from yen to dollars using Japan Customs' official conversion rate. Volumes are in tonnes.

Country          Sept       Sept          Aug        Aug      M/M   Yr/Yr            YTD        YTD   YTD (Yr/Yr %)
        Name         Tonnes   $/Tonne       Tonnes    $/Tonne        %       %          Tonnes    $/Tonne         Tonnes
       China         3,287     274.62       98,740     153.31     -96.7               952,382     256.03            101.7
    Mongolia             -                       -                                          -                      -100.0
   Indonesia     1,154,996     146.21    1,190,021     139.47      -2.9    -8.7    10,923,282     129.18            -21.6
       India             -                       -                                          1   7,663.54           -100.0
      Russia       265,332     269.28      228,585     305.84      16.1    85.8     1,963,922     246.26             21.0
      Canada       440,902     313.80      848,777     303.11     -48.1   -13.4     5,388,836     264.89            -21.8
         USA       227,390     264.14      500,651     279.37     -54.6   -37.1     4,300,965     257.58            123.2
      Mexico             -                       -                                     75,764     301.31         
    Columbia             -                       -                                     61,844     296.64         
   Australia     3,285,048     273.16    3,153,109     285.38       4.2    -4.2    27,226,212     241.95            -16.5
 New Zealand             -                       -                       -100.0       253,020     245.66            -27.2
       Total     5,376,955     248.65    6,019,883     257.15     -10.7    -6.8    51,146,228     222.20            -11.6
 
 
(sourced Reuters)

CME to launch two new thermal coal swap futures contracts

Thu Sep 1, 2011

SINGAPORE, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The CME Group will launch two new over the counter thermal coal swap futures contracts, it said on Thursday, in a move seen aimed at tapping a market keen to hedge price volatility, with key buyer China likely to adopt a more flexible pricing mechanism.

The two contracts, China coal swap futures and Coal Newcastle FOB, will have a lot size of 1,000 tonnes each and will start trading on Sept. 12. Both will be financially settled, CME said in statement.

China, the world's second biggest importer of both thermal and coking coal after Japan, bought 81.6 million tonnes of thermal, or power-station coal, in 2010, accounting for 11.4 percent of the global market.

China imported 44 million tonnes of metallurgical, or steelmaking coal, or 17.7 percent of the world market, last year.

Market participants believe China will move towards index pricing and the new swap contract could be used as a tool to hedge price volatility, a coal broker based in Hong Kong said.

"Index pricing is a natural progression - obviously there is a lot of resistance to it, as there was in iron ore. Right now, the coal buyers can never see them buying on an index but it is the way forward.

"More and more Indonesians are proposing moving towards floating prices. The Chinese may get there - it isn't going to be easy. Index pricing started in Europe five years ago. Two years ago no Indians would buy South African coal on the index but now 90 percent are doing so," the broker said.

Contract pricing of iron ore, a key raw material in making steel, moved to a quarterly system last year after global miners abandoned a 40-year custom of negotiating annual contracts with steel mills.

The contract rates are based on average index prices which are provided by industry players including Platts, Metal Bulletin and the Steel Index.

Australia's thermal coal prices, a benchmark for Asia, have fluctuated since the March 11 earthquake in Japan as Japanese demand eased.

Thermal coal on the globalCOAL Newcastle index stood at just over $120 per tonne last week, much lower than the $140 a tonne seen in January, when prices were pushed up by flooding in Australia's eastern Queensland state.

Prices of hard coking coal are around $300 a tonne from about $200 a tonne a year ago, because of logistical bottlenecks and tighter supply due to the flooding that hit top producer Australia earlier this year.

The new contracts would bring to 16 the coal swap contracts cleared by CME. On Monday, Credit Suisse said it had completed the first ever coking coal swap transaction via a new contract, settled against the Platts Australian coking coal index, cleared by CME.

Japanese coking coal imports in July down by 24pct

Thu, Sep01, 2011 |By SSYOnline

According to data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance, the country imported 5.2 million tonne of coking coal in July, down 6%MoM and 24%YoY.

Imports in January to July totaled almost 40 million tonne, 13% lower than the corresponding period last year.

This year’s overall decline in Japanese coking coal imports has mainly been fell by Australia (-5.0 million tonne to 20.8 million tonne).

By contrast, imports from the US, on the first seven months of 2011 saw a 2 million tonne increase on last year to 3.6 million tonne.

ZIMASCO to imports coal from Botswana

Tuesday, 23 Aug 2011

It is reported that Chinese controlled ferrochrome producer Zimasco is importing coking coal for its smeltering operations from Botswana where the commodity is generally cheaper and always available.

According to Mr Reason Mandimika mining executive of Zimasco, that importing coal was necessitated by bottlenecks in the local supply chain and at times the costing by local suppliers.

Zimasco expects to increase its annual ferrochrome production to 600 000 tonnes once it completes refurbishment and construction of a new furnace in Kwekwe. This follows the government's renewal of a ban on export of raw chrome ore in March this year.

Mr Mandimika said that "We have been importing coking coal for our furnaces from Botswana primarily because of two reasons; it's cheaper and always available.” He added that the coal from Sengwa was not up to the quality required for smelting chrome.

Hwange Colliery and Sengwa Coals are the two main suppliers on the local market but suffer operational hitches, among them recapitalisation and ageing equipment, particularly in the last decade where hyperinflation wreaked havoc on business.

(sourced AllAfrica)

Coal Imports Into China Jumped 34% to Record in July,

Saturday, 20 August 2011

AZNCoal imports into China, the world’s biggest consumer, jumped 34 percent to a record in July, said Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. Shipments climbed “sharply”

from a year earlier to 17.53 million metric tons, Mark Pervan, an analyst at ANZ in Melbourne, said in a report today.
China bought more low-quality coal, according to the report. Imports came to 3.63 million tons for the anthracite variety, 4.05 million tons for coking coal and 9.85 million tons for thermal coal, it showed.
Coking coal is used to make steel, while thermal coal is burned to generate power. China is the world’s biggest steel producer.
Imports are set to accelerate next month or in October as utilities start to restock in anticipation of stronger winter demand, Pervan said. “Signs of a pickup in Chinese activity are supporting China imported coal prices,” he said.

Source Bloomberg

JAPANESE COAL IMPORTS

Feb4, 2011
Japanese imports of coal in December totalled 16.0 Mt which represented a month-on-month increase of 0.7 Mt to the highest amount since August, trade data show. On an annual basis, coal imports in 2010 were 14% higher year-on-year at 184.6 Mt due to increases in imports of coking coal (+17% at 76.7 Mt), thermal coal (+11% at 101.7 Mt) and anthracite coal (+48% at 6.2 Mt). Australia remained the largest supplier of coal to Japan at 117.5 Mt, (+14% year-on-year) while shipments from the US jumped 263% to 3.1 Mt.
(sourced:SSY news)

Madhya Pradesh Power to import 400000 tonnes of steam coal

Friday, 21 Jan 2011

Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Co is seeking to import 400,000 tonnes of non coking coal for two projects in central India. The company, based in Jabalpur in central Madhya Pradesh state, requires suppliers to deliver 250,000 tonnes to its Satpura Thermal Power station at Sarni and 150,000 tonnes to its Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power station at Birsinghpur.
The power producer is seeking coal of gross calorific value of 6,300 kilocalories a kilogram and with ash content of 10 percent. Bids are to be submitted by January 31 and deliveries are to begin in the fourth week of February. (Sourced from Bloomberg)

List of worldwide coal ports, coal loading port and coal discharging port name with country name

Australia, China, Indonesia, India, France, Japan, Colombia, Colombia, Hongkong, Malaysia, Mozambique, Philippines, Pakistan's coal loading port and discharging port list.

Name of Port Status of Port Country
Adang Bay Anchorage, East Kalimantan, Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Apar bay, Coal Loading Port Indonesia
Balikpapan,Coal Terminal Coal Loading Port,Indonesia
Baoshan Coal & Ore Port, Coal Discharging Port, China
Barranquilla - CDC Private Port, Coal Loading Port,Colombia
Bedi Port, Coal Discharging Port , India
Bontang Coal Terminal, Coal Loading Port Indonesia
Bunyu Anchorage, East Kalimantan, Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Carrington Coal Terminal, Coal Loading Port, Australia
Cartagena - Carbones Del Caribe Berth, Coal Loading Port Colombia
Castle Peak - Tap Shek kok, Coal Discharging Port Hongkong
Cenko Port, Kintap, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Cigading International Bulk Terminal Coal Loading & Discharging ... Indonesia
Cigading Port - Indocement Coal Discharging Port Indonesia
Cochin Port, Coal Discharging Port India
Covanta Mauban Power Private Jetty Coal Discharging Port, Philippines
Dahanu Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
Dahej Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
Dharamtar Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
DTBS 1Port - Kintap, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
DTBS 2 Port, Kintap, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Dunkirk - Sideco Terminal, Coal Discharging Port, France
Dunkirk - Western Bulk Terminal, Coal Discharging Port, France
Enore Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
Fangcheng Coal Terminal Coal Loading & Discharging ... China
Fukuyama - NKK Coal & ore centre Coal Discharging Port, Japan
Gangavaram Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
Haji Bandar Port, ( MBFL) Coal Discharging Port, India
Haldia Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
Hongkong Port - China
Light Power Station, Coal Discharging Port, Hongkong
Hongkong Port - Lamma Power Station Coal Discharging Port, Hongkong
Jorong Anchorage, South Kalimantan Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Kakinada Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
Kandla Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
Karaikal Port, Private Limited Coal Discharging Port, India
Keratapati Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Kintap - Dewata Utama, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Kintap - SKJM, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Kooragang Coal Terminal Coal Loading Port, Australia
Krishnapatnam Port Coal Discharging Port, India
KSU River Port, Kintap, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Lumut Port Dry Bulk & Liquid cargo, Malaysia
Magdalla Port, Coal Discharging Port,India
Mandiri River Port 1, Kintap, South Kalimantan, Coal (Barge) Loading Port Indonesia
Matola Coal Terminal Coal Loading Port Mozambique
Miang Besar Coal Terminal (MBCT) Ocean Going Vessel Coal L, Indonesia
Mormugao Port Coal Discharging Port, India
Muara Banyu Asin Anchorage, Palembang, Coal Loading Port,Indonesia
Muara Berau, Samarinda, East Kalimantan Coal Loading Port,Indonesia
Muara Jawa, Samarinda, East Kalimantan Coal Loading Port,Indonesia
Muara Pantai, Berau, East Kalimantan Coal Loading Port,Indonesia
Muara Sabak, Jambi Coal Loading Port Indonesia
Muara Satui South Kalimantan Coal Loading Port,Indonesia
Muarasabak Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Mul Dwarka Port, Coal Discharging Port, India
Mumbai Port Coal Discharging Port, India
Mundra Port IndiaNavalaki Port Coal Discharging Port, India
New Mangalore Coal Discharging Port, India
North Pulau Laut Coal Terminal Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Okah Port Coal Discharging Port India
Pagbilao Port Coal Discharging Port, Philippines
Pagbilao Power Plant Private Terminal, Coal Discharging Port, Philippines
Paiton - Paiton Energy Company, Coal Discharging Port, Indonesia
Panjim Port Coal Discharging Port, India
PCMU (Pribumi Citra Mega Utama Jetty), Kintap, South Kalimantan,Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
PIK Lubuk Tutung Anchorage Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Pipavev Port Coal Discharging Port, India
Porbandar Port Coal Discharging Port, India
Port Dickson - KTM Jetty Coal Discharging Port, Malaysia
Port Karachi Coal Discharging Port, Pakistan
Port Klang (Kapar) Coal Discharging Port, Malaysia
Port of Chennai Coal Discharging Port, India
Port of Qinhuangdao Coal Loading & Discharging ... China
Port Qasim Coal Discharging Port, Pakistan
Pradip Port Coal Discharging Port, India
Pulau Laut Coal Terminal Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Pulau Tikus Anchorage, Bengkulu, Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Richards Bay Coal Terminal Coal Loading Port, South Africa
Satui Anchorage Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Sebuku Anchorage, South Kalimantan, Coal Loading Port,Indonesia
Sikka Port Coal Discharging Port, India
SSDK Jetty, Kintap, South Kalimantan, Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Sual Port Coal Discharging Port, Philippines
Sungai Pakning Anchoarge Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Sungai Bangkong, Tembilahan Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Sungai Danau-Andang Puspita Jaya Sejati, South Kalimantan, Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Sungai Danau-BDK, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Sungai Danau-H Abidin, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Sungai Danau-KSA, South Kalimantan Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Suralaya - PLN Coal Discharging Port, Indonesia
Taboneo Anchorage, Banjarmasin, Coal Loading Port Indonesia
Tanah Merah Coal Terminal Coal Loading Port Indonesia
Tanjung Bara Anchorage Coal Loading Port Indonesia
Tanjung Bara Coal Terminal - TBCT, Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Tanjung Pemancingan, South Kalimantan, Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Tanjung Petang, South Kalimantan, Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Tarahan Coal Terminal Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Tarakan (Inside Harbour) Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Tarakan - Tanjung Batu Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Teluk Bayur - Padang Coal & General Cargo Handl ... Indonesia
TG. Mangkok Anchorage Coal Loading Port, Indonesia
Timbau Port (River Port) Coal (Barge) Loading Port, Indonesia
Tuticorin Port Coal Discharging Port, India
Visakhpatnam (Vizag) Port Coal Discharging Port, India
Xinsha port Coal Discharging Port, China

Figures above are average quarterly export prices for metallurgical coal ('coking coal'; 'met coal') shipped from the USA expressed in USD per short ton on an f.a.s. basis [free alongside ship]. To see domestic US coking coal prices and / or other commodity price data including thermal coal, iron ore, ferrous scrap, natural gas and electricity prices, see our commodity prices page. Source: all figures above are courtesy of the EIA

JSW Steel Will Import 40% More Coking Coal Next Year on Capacity Increase

Courtesy news via Bloomberg by Abhishek Shanker - Jan 6, 2011 6:16 AM GMT+0530

JSW Steel Ltd., India’s third-largest producer, plans to increase coking coal imports from Australia and the U.S. by as much as 40 percent next fiscal year as it raises production.

Imports will climb to about 7 million metric tons in the year from April 1, part of which will come from JSW Steel’s U.S. mines, Chief Executive Officer Vinod Nowal said in an interview in Mumbai. Capacity at its Vijayanagar factory in the southern state of Karnataka is slated to increase 47 percent to 10 million tons by March, he said.

India’s steel demand, which rose about 8 percent last fiscal year, is forecast by the government to grow 10 percent this fiscal year, helped by spending on roads, ports and automobiles. JSW Steel, which imports all its coking coal, has built its plant to limit coal usage as prices climb because of supply disruption caused by flooding in Australia, the world’s largest exporter.

“We’ve designed our furnace and raw material feed in a way that our coal requirement will be amongst the lowest in India,” Nowal said by phone yesterday. “Talks to secure coking coal are on and we should be able to contract the required quantity.”

JSW Steel, which is expected to use 5 million tons of coking coal by March 31, increased purchases in December in preparation for the rains in Australia, from where it gets the bulk of its supply, Nowal said. Indian companies paid about $208 a ton for coking coal in the quarter ended Dec. 31, said Niraj Shah, an analyst at Fortune Equity Brokers Ltd. in Mumbai.

Coal Prices

Prices may rise to $270 a metric ton for three-month contracts starting April 1 as the floods in Australia threaten to take as much as 10 million tons of metallurgical coal out of the market, Colin Hamilton, a London-based analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd., said in an e-mailed response to questions. Mills agreed to pay $225 a ton for the quarter beginning Jan. 1, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts wrote in a report last month.

JSW Steel shares, which rose 16 percent last year, fell 1.7 percent to 1,147.50 rupees at the close of trading yesterday in Mumbai. The benchmark Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange dropped 1 percent.

The company expects to use no more than 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) of coal to make a ton of steel, about 10 percent less than rivals, making it amongst the most efficient mills in the nation, Nowal said.

Acquisitions

JSW Steel, which earmarked $500 million for acquiring coking coal assets overseas, is seeking mines in Australia and Africa. The company bought coking coal assets in the U.S. in May and plans to start shipments from the mines this quarter, Group Chief Financial Officer Seshagiri Rao said on Sept. 23.

Tata Steel Ltd., India’s biggest producer, buys all the coal for its European operations and about half its Indian requirement from overseas. Steel Authority of India Ltd., the second-largest producer, imports 70 percent of its needs.

Indian steelmakers imported about 27 million tons of coking coal in the year ended March 31, according to Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Ltd., the nation’s largest non-state producer.

JSW Steel, which plans to add about 3.2 million tons of capacity at Vijayanagar, will probably start the new blast furnace at the plant on March 25, Nowal said.

“First half of the calendar year is always the best for Indian steel output and consumption, hence the requirement of coal is also higher,” Shah said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Abhishek Shanker in Mumbai at ashanker1@bloomberg.net