Coal news and updates

South Africa August thermal coal exports down 5.9% on year to 5.73 mt

South African thermal coal exports in August dropped 5.9% on the year to 5.73 million mt, with lower shipments to Europe, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the US, according to customs data released late Thursday.

The volume was also 19.8% lower than July's seven-month high, mainly due to falling exports to India and Europe.

India remained the largest destination for South African thermal coal in August, with 2.36 million mt shipped during the month.

The volume was 3% higher on the year, but fell 30% from July to the lowest monthly total since January's 2.01 million mt.

During the first eight months of the year, 23.58 million mt of thermal coal was exported to India, 48.6% of the total 48.56 million mt shipped during the period.

Exports to Pakistan picked up in August, with 648,267 mt shipped to the country -- the highest monthly volume since Platts started collecting export data in April 2014. The volume was 94% higher on the year and also rose 44% on the month.

Shipments to the whole of Europe in August remained above 1 million mt for the second consecutive month with 1.10 million mt shipped to countries in the region. But exports fell 32.4% from August 2014 and were also 12% lower than July's six-month high.

The coal was sent to Spain at 492,434 mt, France at 230,000 mt, Italy at 215,000 mt and the Netherlands at 168,041 mt.

South African thermal coal shipments to Turkey were at 226,000 mt in August, falling 42% on the year and also a 27% decrease from the previous month.

No South African thermal coal was exported to the UK, the UAE, China, South Korea, Israel or the US in August.

Spot FOB Richards Bay 6,000 kcal/kg NAR coal spot prices continued their downtrend in August, with the Indian monsoon season, credit issues and high stocks at ports and utilities hindering Indian demand, while ample supply of material remained available throughout the seaborne market.

Platts' 7-45 day price assessment lost $2.45 from the beginning of the month to $52.60/mt FOB on August 28.

source: http://www.platts.com