South African coal price surge, while others languish, is troubling

, , ,

By Clyde Russell | Reuters

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Coal prices around the world are gently sliding as demand from top importers such as China, India and even Europe remains subdued amid a so far mild northern winter. However, there is one exception.

South African coal export prices at Richards Bay have surged in recent months, defying market fundamentals and seemingly without logical explanation.

The daily Richards Bay index, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, jumped 44% from $56.54 a tonne on Sept. 25 to a recent high of $81.30 on Nov. 28.

It has since retreated slightly to end on Wednesday at $81.30 a tonne, but the Richards Bay outperformance over other benchmarks has been staggering.

The price of thermal coal delivered into northwest Europe dropped 16% from a recent high of $64.07 a tonne on Sept. 16 to the close on Wednesday of $54.04.

The weekly index for benchmark Australian thermal coal at Newcastle port has traded sideways in recent months, going from $63.22 a tonne in the week to Sept. 27 to $65.31 in the week to Nov. 29…Full Story

Related Posts

,

Anglo American, South32 walk away from thermal coal

By Vanessa Zhou | Australian Mining Anglo American is the second company to cut off its South African thermal coal assets following a similar move by South32 last week. Anglo American plans to demerge its thermal coal operations in South Africa and establish a new holding company called Thungela Resources to hold the assets. The […]

,

Coal snapshot: Mid-term outlook is positive

Gerard Peter | Mining Review Africa While there is a concerted effort by nations to reduce reliance on coal for both energy and production purposes, research analyst Fitch Ratings believes that the medium-term outlook for the commodity remains buoyant. There can be no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has had an effect on global demand […]

,

ASIC raids mine at centre of fake coal testing claims

By Liam Walsh | Australian Financial Review The corporate watchdog has raided the mining operation at the centre of allegations of fake coal analyses. Queensland police on Monday helped officials from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission execute a search warrant on TerraCom, which runs the Blair Athol coal mine in the central part of the […]