Coal news and updates

European physical coal prices edged lower on Monday as healthy supply and expectations of weak demand continued to pressure prices.

 

Cargoes for delivery in September to Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp (ARA) traded at $72.75 a tonne on the globalCOAL trading platform, down $0.55 from Friday's settlement, while the August contract was unchanged at $72.40 per tonne.

 

Traders said there was scant demand for coal as most utilities were already well stocked for the summer months and said prices were likely to remain weak unless there were some shock supply cuts.

 

The threat of disruptions in supply from Colombia lifted late last week after the country's biggest coal miner, Cerrejon, said late on Thursday protesters ended a six-day blockade on the firm's private railway line.

 

The company had warned last week it may have to declare force majeure on coal exports and could run out of stocks at its port in one or two days if the protests continued.

 

News of an end to the blockade helped to send July ARA prices to a new five year low of $69.75/tonne on Friday.

 

Traded volumes were thin on Monday. Some 50,000 tonnes of August ARA coal, and 50,000 tonnes for September delivery had traded by 1600 GMT, according to data on online trading platform globalCOAL.

 

The July had not traded by 1600 GMT on Monday but was bid at $70.50 per tonne.

 

Meanwhile, South African coal cargoes for delivery in September from the Richards Bay terminal were valued around $73.75 per tonne, but did not trade, according to globalCOAL data. 

 

 

Source: Reuters