Two thermal coal spot trades in both the European-delivered and South African FOB markets went through Thursday morning at slightly firmer levels on higher crude oil prices as coal fundamentals remain subdued, sources said.
In the European-delivered CIF ARA market, a 50,000 mt November DES Amsterdam-Rotterdam generic origin cargo traded through London Commodity Brokers at $93/mt with exchange of futures for physical (EFP)terms attached, 20 cents higher than a similar deal Wednesday and up 75 cents on Platts 90-day CIF ARA price Wednesday.
A 75,000 mt Richards Bay November-loading shipment with EFP was done at $89/mt FOB via the globalCOAL screen, 25 cents lower than the last reported trade Monday but 90 cents higher than Platts' 90-day Richards Bay FOB assessment Wednesday.
Sources said both trades involved two northwest European utilities.
Participants said that there are no new developments in the Atlantic basin, with European buyers comfortably supplied with shipments from most origins overshadowing healthy demand for coal.
A utility source said both Colombian and Russian supplies in the Atlantic are abundant, while US-origin coal "hasn't priced in [to Europe] for months and it still doesn't".
Earlier in the week, a source estimated estimated the cost of replacement of US East Coast material at around $5-$6/mt over current CIF ARA spot prices.
At the same time, the Asia-Pacific basin is still struggling to find significant buying demand from main end users China and India, particularly for standard South African RB1 6,000 kcal/kg NAR material.
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