A 20% increase in 2004-05 coking coal prices would boost 2004 earnings for a company like BHP Billiton, which jointly owns the world's largest coking coal exporter BMA Coal, by between 5 and 7%, Sydney-based Swiss bank UBS resources analyst, Glyn Lawcock said.
According to the article published in the Australian Fording Canadian Coal Trust and Teck Cominco, partners in the world's second biggest coking coal exporter, said prices from their Elk Valley Coal Corp unit would rise by almost a fifth in the year beginning April 1.
Prices jumped as rising Chinese imports cut available supplies and as miners sought increases to stem falling returns caused by a surge in the Australian and Canadian currencies against the US dollar.
"Strong demand from our traditional coal customers and from new customers in China has sharply increased the value of our coal while accelerating the negotiation and settlement process," Elk Valley Coal president and chief executive Jim Gardiner said.
More than 80% of the coal available for sale from Elk Valley has been priced and sold under contract, Fording said. MiningNews.net
