Market overview from globalCoal for December 20

Another quiet day in the coal markets with the Christmas break almost here although coal did gain strongly on the day albeit amongst thin trading. With the Euro broadly unchanged Brent led the way gaining ~$2.75/bbl to end the day at ~$106.40/bbl. This gave the wider energy complex some upwards impetus and correspondingly coal saw values gain by ~$2 across the main hubs.

Markets were quiet today leading into the Christmas break. The backlog of ships off Newcastle remain in the high 50s and most producers in Australia are short for Q1. The search for prompt newc cargo continued with bid at $110.50 for a Feb cargo while an offer came in $113.50 but for a smaller volume. Demand side, Chinese buyers have lowered their price expectations, with power plants in Xiamen heard to be accepting 4700NAR coal at $85-86/mt. (*)

globalCoal trades this week

	Product	Expiry	Price	Volume	Origin	Delivery Point	EFP
20/12/2011	Phys API#4 Index	Jan'12	-$ 0.20	50000
20/12/2011	Phys RB1	Jan'12	$ 105.00	50000