Drop in Chinese rates weakens global coal prices
20 Mar 2015
March 20: A weak trend prevailed in international coal markets on March 19, following a steep fall in prices of domestic coal in China on comparatively low demand from power utilities, market sources said.
Taking a cue, prices of both South African and Australian origin coal fell by around $1 per ton. However, Indonesian coal prices remained largely unchanged.
Following are the indicative prices of coal in various markets and indicative freight rates on March 19:
Description of Coal |
Specification |
Price/ton (in $ and FOB) |
||||
As on, |
As on, |
Week ago, |
6-month ago, |
Year ago, |
||
March 19, 2015 |
March 18, 2015 |
March 12, 2015 |
September 20, 2014 |
March 20, 2014 |
||
South African Steam Coal |
6000 Kcal/kg NAR |
60.25 |
61.20 |
63.40 |
- |
75.50 |
South African Steam Coal |
5500 Kcal/kg NAR |
51.60 |
51.90 |
53.15 |
- |
65.25 |
Australian Steam Coal |
6300 Kcal/kg GAR |
59.60 |
60.60 |
63.80 |
- |
72.75 |
Indonesian Steam Coal |
5900 Kcal/kg GAR |
60.50 |
60.25 |
60.00 |
- |
69.00 |
Indonesian Steam Coal |
5000 Kcal/kg GAR |
48.00 |
48.00 |
48.00 |
- |
55.25 |
Indonesian Steam Coal |
4200 Kcal/kg GAR |
34.00 |
34.00 |
34.00 |
- |
37.10 |
Indonesian Steam Coal |
3800 Kcal/kg GAR |
27.10 |
27.10 |
27.10 |
- |
32.00 |
Hard Coking Coal (Australian) |
VM-20.7%, Ash-10.5% |
101.50 |
101.50 |
102.50 |
- |
107.00 |
Premium Low Vol |
VM-21.5%, Ash-9.3% |
100.50 |
100.50 |
101.50 |
- |
106.00 |
Semi Soft |
76.60 |
77.00 |
76.50 |
- |
76.75 |
|
Met Coke (CFR India) |
177.50 |
177.50 |
180.00 |
- |
220.00 |
Freight rates:
Destination
|
(in $/ton) |
||||
As on |
As on |
Week ago, |
6-month ago, |
Year ago, |
|
March 19, 2015 |
March 18, 2015 |
March 12, 2015 |
September 20, 2014 |
March 20, 2014 |
|
South Africa (RBCT) to India (West Coast) |
9.00 |
9.00 |
9.00 |
- |
17.00 |
South Africa (RBCT) to India (East Coast) |
9.10 |
9.10 |
9.25 |
- |
17.40 |
Indonesia (Kalimantan) to India (West Coast) |
6.25 |
6.25 |
6.50 |
- |
11.00 |
Indonesia (Kalimantan) to India (East Coast) |
5.25 |
5.25 |
5.50 |
- |
9.75 |
Australia to India |
10.00 |
10.00 |
10.40 |
- |
18.00 |
Source: traders and ICMW database