Coal news and updates

Australian steam coal cargo coming to India

August 12: Considerably higher volumes of Australian steam coal cargo is coming to India of late after prices came at par with South African API4, industry sources told ICMW.

“We have seen Australian cargo going to India. Anglo Coal has sold some of these,” the source said.

Indian consumers, it is be noted, traditionally preferred South African steam coal but the recent softness in the prices of Australian steam coal prompted them to buy the Australian variety, they said.

However, an official from a leading international coal miner with operations in South Africa as well as Australia, said, “India is the key market for SA coal at the moment.”

“You can see that more than half of the total exports from RBCT have gone to India. Between May and July, India accounted for nearly 55% of the total coal exports from RBCT,” he said.

“API4 is finding some support via API2 from India. However, the spread between Australia and API4 should keep a lid on API4 versus Newc,” the official added.