Seaborne thermal coal prices climbed to new record highs in Asia despite signs of rising exports from major producers. Analysts said imports from China and India, the region’s largest buyers, will mostly drive the movement of coal prices in Asia. The two countries are trying to boost domestic supplies. However, it remains to be seen how these efforts would impact prices.
India’s thermal imports have been trending lower in the last four months. Its imports rose to 2.67 million tons in the week ended October 10, compared to 3.99 million tons in the corresponding week last year. On the other hand, China’s imports have been robust in year-on-year terms in the past couple of weeks. China imported 3.29 million tons of thermal coal in the week ended October 10, up from 1.47 million in the same week in 2020.
The benchmark price for Australia’s 6,000 kcal/kg coal at Newcastle Port jumped 12.5% week-on-week to a new fresh record of $229.11 per ton in the week ended October 8. The index has climbed nearly 160% since late April. Meanwhile, the index price for Australia’s 5,500 kcal/kg coal has also allied to a record high of $138.60 per ton last week. The prices of Indonesia’s 4,200 kcal/kg coal also hit a new all-time high of $122.08 per ton last week, up 439% since last year’s low of $22.65 per ton.
