Market overview from globalCoal for April 18

Global equity and commodity markets continued their bearish run today. Outlook for the energy complex remains weak: coal, oil, gas and power all reported losses. In financial coal, the benchmark Cal 13 contract saw falls of $0.50 on the API#2, $0.80 on the API#4 and $1.15 on the swap NEWC indices as spreads narrow. In the physical market, general nervousness means that most activity is centring on index contracts - fixed price activity is sparse although two trades were reported at lower levels in the DES ARA hub. For a longer term view of market direction for coal, all eyes remain focused on the Beijing CoalTrans conference. Meanwhile, June Brent crude fell $1.55 to end the day (at 5pm London time) at ~$117.20/bbl.

A large Indian cement producer was in the market today for concluding two May RB cargoes in 75kt & 50kt respectively, with bearish sentiment continuing further during the day, bids were seen ~$100-101/mt FOB for May RB. On the Indo front, a May 4500 GAR single mine May cargo traded at $55/mt FOB.

globalCoal trades this week

	Product	Expiry	Price	Volume	Origin	Delivery Point	EFP
16/04/2012	Phys ARA (DES)	Jun'12	$ 97.00	50,000	ACPRS	Ams/Rot	EFP
16/04/2012	Phys ARA (DES)	Jun'12	$ 96.90	50,000	ACPRS	Rott	EFP
17/04/2012	SWAP NEWC Index	Q2'12	$ 104.00	15,000
17/04/2012	Phys NEWC (FOB Newcastle)	Jun'12	$ 102.25	75,000			EFP, ND
17/04/2012	SWAP NEWC Index	Q3'12	$ 105.75	15,000
17/04/2012	SWAP NEWC Index	Q3'12	$ 105.75	15,000