While the Newcastle prices are considered a benchmark for Asia, coal prices have also risen at South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal, with the globalCOAL RB index soaring 3.94% to $US84.13 in the same weekly period.
Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post newspaper has reported rises in Shanxi premium blend coal spot prices triggered by declining inventory stockpiles at China’s largest coal port in Qinhuangdao.
Yesterday, Macquarie Research analysts in a report on thermal coal said spot prices were likely to come under downward pressure in the short term as the seaborne thermal coal market appeared to be in oversupply.
Contract prices for thermal coal were as high as $US125/t last year, before commodity price carnage fuelled by the ongoing global financial crisis.
