Friday saw a little more downward pressure on the iron ore price but coking coal was smacked for another 5% last week:
Newc spot bounced last week adding 3.5% to USD85.65/t, while coking coal continued its decline falling 5.5% to USD182.27/t. Although prices at the premium end of the thermal coal spectrum gained ground, a succession of utility tender results drove sub-bituminous Indonesian prices lower. More positively, reports are continuing to emerge that Indonesian producers are cutting back on production with current prices too low to cover production costs.
Better news for thermal coal obviously with the bottoming process more advanced. Nonetheless, the caning of the terms of trade goes on.
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