Coal news and updates

Friday deal again pushes up PRB 8,800 coal front-month contract in US OTC market

Action picked up Friday in the US over-the-counter thermal coal market with three physical deals for Powder River Basin 8,800 Btu/lb contracts, including the sixth trade for the front-month (October) contract in two weeks that raised the price to its highest yet.

Brokers reported the PRB 8,800 front-month contracted traded Friday at $10.65/st for one train (15,000), 20 cents more than when it traded first on August 20 and 5 cents more than it traded for on Thursday.

An offer of $10.85/st followed the trade Friday but did not receive a bid, a market player said.

Platts on Friday assessed the PRB 8,800 front-month price at $10.65/st, up 10 cents from Thursday, based on the physical trade.

Also reported Friday was a physical-financial Q4 spread deal in the PRB 8,800 market for one train a month at $10.65/st, which was set at a 10-cent premium to the Q4 financial contract price of $10.55/st.

In another PRB 8,800 Q4 deal, brokers reported a physical spread trade for two trains (30,000 st) a month at minus 25 cents over the same contract, excluding coal from the Antelope mine. The legs of the trade were reported at $10.65/st and $10.90/st.

Trading in the PRB 8,800 financial market Friday was a Q2 2016 futures contract that cleared at $10.85/st, a front-half 2016 contract that cleared at $10.80/st, and a Q4 2015 over Q1 2016 spread that cleared at minus 20 cents on legs of $10.55/st and $10.75/st.

The Central Appalachian contracts were shut out Friday, with no reported bids or offers in the CAPP rail (CSX) or CAPP barge markets.

Platts on Friday assessed the CSX font-month contract price at $44/st and the CAPP barge contract at $43/st, both unchanged from Thursday, based on a lack of markets and broker marks.

source: http://www.platts.com