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Turkey Apr thermal coal imports drop to six-month low at 2.063 mil mt

Turkey’s bituminous thermal coal imports in April dropped to a six-month low of 2.063 million mt despite rising 83% year on year following a significant drop in Russian and South African deliveries, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute.

April thermal coal imports shed 3% from March, TUIK data showed.

The total April sales value for imported thermal coal was $163.167 million, equivalent to a monthly April average price of $79.08/mt, compared with March’s $176.724 million and its average price of $74.44/mt.

Russian thermal coal shipments in April dropped to its lowest level in 10 months at 542,130 mt, a 47% rise year on year and 25% lower from March.

South African supplies also dipped to a nine-month low of 439,462 mt, a significant drop off from last year’s 52,738 mt and 35% lower month on month.

The April monthly average sales price of Russian thermal coal imports into Turkey was $93.34/mt, lower compared with $103.92/mt during the previous month, while South African supplies averaged $74.57/mt, marginally up from March’s $74.44/mt.

Monthly Colombian thermal coal shipments in April, however, rose to its highest level since October 2013 to 975,388 mt, a 50% increase from the same month last year and 51% up from March.

The monthly average cost of Colombian thermal coal was $70.64/mt, a slight increase from the previous month’s $70.43/mt.

A 32,996 mt cargo of Australian thermal coal was registered coming into Turkey in April, the first since October 2011, and a 30,000 mt Mozambican shipment also entered the country during the month, the first since March 2013.

The Australian shipment came in at around $97.53/mt, and the Mozambican cargo cost around $112/mt, according to TUIK data.

Platts assessed the April monthly average of its CIF Turkey 6,000 kcal/kg NAR 90-day price at $65.50/mt, down from $68.25/mt in March.

The weekly CIF Turkey 6,000 kcal/kg NAR price was assessed at $64/mt Friday, 50 cents lower week on week.

COKING COAL IMPORTS RISE TO FOUR-MONTH HIGH

Total coking coal imports in April rose to a four-month high of 672,404 mt, doubling from the same month last year and more than triple from March’s volumes, TUIK data showed.

The US shipped most of the coking coal in April at 340,607 mt, followed by Australia at 268,549 mt, Colombia at 43,409 mt, and Russia the remainder.

Turkey’s April anthracite imports were 39,924 mt, 6% higher month on month.

source: http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com