Weak China demand continues to hit Australian rates
23 Mar 2015
March 23: An extension of a weak trend was witnessed in Australian steam coal prices on March 20 amidst low demand from China, which also affected prices of other origin coal to some extent, market sources said.
While Australian steam coal prices slipped by $1 per ton, price of the standard South African variety softened by $0.15 per ton, they said.
Meanwhile, freight rates spurted sharply during the day after a continuous decline witnessed over the past more than two months, thereby offsetting the gains from the decline in coal prices to some extent, they added.
Following are the indicative prices of coal in various markets and indicative freight rates on March 20:
Description of Coal |
Specification |
Price/ton (in $ and FOB) |
||||
As on, |
As on, |
Week ago, |
6-month ago, |
Year ago, |
||
March 20, 2015 |
March 19, 2015 |
March 13, 2015 |
September 21, 2014 |
March 21, 2014 |
||
South African Steam Coal |
6000 Kcal/kg NAR |
60.10 |
60.25 |
63.00 |
- |
75.50 |
South African Steam Coal |
5500 Kcal/kg NAR |
51.60 |
51.60 |
53.00 |
- |
65.15 |
Australian Steam Coal |
6300 Kcal/kg GAR |
58.60 |
59.60 |
64.00 |
- |
72.75 |
Indonesian Steam Coal |
5900 Kcal/kg GAR |
60.50 |
60.50 |
60.00 |
- |
69.00 |
Indonesian Steam Coal |
5000 Kcal/kg GAR |
47.80 |
48.00 |
48.00 |
- |
55.00 |
Indonesian Steam Coal |
4200 Kcal/kg GAR |
34.00 |
34.00 |
34.00 |
- |
37.00 |
Indonesian Steam Coal |
3800 Kcal/kg GAR |
27.00 |
27.10 |
27.10 |
- |
32.10 |
Hard Coking Coal (Australian) |
VM-20.7%, Ash-10.5% |
101.50 |
101.50 |
102.50 |
- |
108.00 |
Premium Low Vol |
VM-21.5%, Ash-9.3% |
100.50 |
100.50 |
101.50 |
- |
107.00 |
Semi Soft |
76.25 |
76.60 |
76.50 |
- |
78.00 |
|
Met Coke (CFR India) |
177.50 |
177.50 |
180.00 |
- |
218.00 |
Freight rates:
Destination |
(in $/ton) |
||||
As on |
As on |
Week ago, |
6-month ago, |
Year ago, |
|
March 20, 2015 |
March 19, 2015 |
March 13, 2015 |
September 21, 2014 |
March 21, 2014 |
|
South Africa (RBCT) to India (West Coast) |
9.60 |
9.00 |
9.00 |
- |
17.00 |
South Africa (RBCT) to India (East Coast) |
9.75 |
9.10 |
9.25 |
- |
17.40 |
Indonesia (Kalimantan) to India (West Coast) |
6.75 |
6.25 |
6.50 |
- |
11.00 |
Indonesia (Kalimantan) to India (East Coast) |
5.75 |
5.25 |
5.25 |
- |
9.75 |
Australia to India |
10.00 |
10.00 |
10.40 |
- |
17.75 |
Source: traders and ICMW database