Coal news and updates

Indonesian thermal coal prices remained stable Wednesday with a few deals reported from the Indian market, sources said.

 

But high stocks at Chinese ports and weak domestic prices have kept the country's imported thermal coal buyers at bay, sources said.

 

"Last week I was in Kalimantan and it was raining heavily," an Indonesia-based trader said, adding that this was affecting both loading and production.

 

Blended, Panamax cargoes of 5,000 kcal/kg GAR coal are being offered at $57-57.50/mt FOB for March loading, but Chinese buyers are not willing to pay that price, he said. For single-mine coal of this grade, offer prices could be $1-2 higher, he added.

 

"China is still quiet. All the cargoes that Chinese booked in December and January have already been shipped prior to the Lunar New Year holidays," he said. "There is no [fresh] demand from China."

 

Stocks at Qinhuangdao port are still in excess of 8 million mt while Chinese domestic thermal coal prices are on a downtrend, losing about $2/mt last week, leading to muted demand from China for imported coal, he added.

 

An India-based trader said cargo availability for Indonesian 5,000 kcal/kg GAR coal "is an issue", with some offers for blended, Panamax cargoes of this grade coming in at about $58.50/mt FOB for prompt delivery.

 

The Indonesia-based trader said offer prices for Panamax cargoes of 4,200 kcal/kg GAR coal were at $38.50/mt FOB, but counter bids were not immediately available.

 

Chinese power plants are bidding for March-April delivered cargoes of 3,800 kcal/kg NAR -- or 4,200 kcal/kg GAR -- at about Yuan 282/mt [$46.40/mt] without VAT CFR southern China, while offer prices have remained at about $39-39.50/mt FOB or some $48/mt CFR, a Chinese trader said. "For a decent 4,200 kcal/kg GAR coal, $38.50-39/mt FOB should be the price [for geared vessel loading]," the India-based trader said.

 

He said he had sold a few Supramax cargoes of "good" 4,200 kcal/kg GAR coal for March loading at $39/mt FOB to Indian buyers earlier this month.

 

NO DEALS

 

A Singapore-based trader said Supramax cargoes of 4,200 kcal/kg GAR coal were being offered at $38/mt FOB for March loading.

 

"Low CV coal demand is muted now," he said, adding that despite offers for 3,800 kcal/kg GAR coal at $32.50-33/mt FOB, buying interest was almost absent.

 

A week ago, a Panamax cargo of Indonesian 4,900 kcal/kg GAR coal was reportedly sold at $67/mt CFR east coast India for March delivery, he added.

 

A few high-sulfur cargoes of Indonesian 5,500 kcal/kg NAR coal are being offered at $66/mt FOB, he said, adding that coal with maximum 1% sulfur of this grade could be offered at close to $70/mt FOB.

 

The Indonesia-based trader said Panamax cargoes of 5,050 kcal/kg NAR coal were being offered at $64/mt FOB for March loading, but counter bids were not immediately available.

 

"Miners are offering, but no deals [to China] are getting closed," he said.

 

A Hong Kong-based trader was offering a 52,000 mt cargo of 5,800-5,600 kcal/kg ADB coal at $57/mt FOB for immediate loading from South Kalimantan, but he did not quantify the heating value of the coal in GAR or NAR terms.

 

He said Indonesian 5,500 kcal/kg NAR coal could be priced at about $76/mt CFR south China currently, but he did not have any spot shipment to offer.

 

Platts assessed the daily 90-day prices for FOB Kalimantan 5,000 kcal/kg GAR coal at $56.40/mt, unchanged from Tuesday, and FOB Kalimantan 5,900 kcal/kg GAR coal was assessed at $70.10/mt, down 10 cents on the day.

 

Platts assessed the prices of FOB Kalimantan 4,200 kcal/kg GAR coal at $37.75/mt and FOB Kalimantan 3,800 kcal/kg GAR at $31.90/mt, both stable on the day.

 

Source: Platts