Market overview from globalCoal for March 02

In a subdued end to the week both physical and paper coal market saw limited liquidity and volatility. Despite Brent giving up all its gains from yesterday after news of a pipeline explosion proved incorrect and a falling Euro, coal markets remained broadly unchanged on the day. The Euro fell to below 1.32 vs the US$ whilst front month Brent dropped by over $2.00/bbl to finish at ~$124.00/bbl. Cal13 for API#2, API#4 and NEWC products were all broadly higher by ~$0.25.

The rains that have been circling around NSW and Qld in Australian mining areas arrived today. Some production days will be lost, but the general response from the market was that the major players had been back on track since the last downpour, so can cope with this recent event. The movement of alternative sources into Asia, particularly Colombian coal, has downward pressure on Newcastle prices with the recent Korean tender preferring Colombian and Russian proposals. The Indonesian market too is seeing weakening prices, with Chinese market still putting a floor on market.

globalCoal trades this week

	Product	Expiry	Price	Volume	Origin	Delivery Point	EFP
27/02/2012	Phys ARA (DES)	Mar'12	$ 98.85	65,000	R	Antw
27/02/2012	Phys RB1	Apr'12	$ 105.25	50,000
28/02/2012	Phys ARA (DES)	Apr'12	$ 98.00	50,000	ACPRS	Rott
29/02/2012	Phys ARA (DES)	May'12	$ 98.00	50,000	CRS	Ams/Rot
29/02/2012	Phys ARA (DES)	Mar'12	$ 96.00	65,000	R	Amst	EFP
29/02/2012	Phys RB1	Mar'12	$ 104.90	50,000
29/02/2012	Phys RB1	Apr'12	$ 104.00	25,000
29/02/2012	Phys ARA (DES)	May'12	$ 97.00	50,000	ACPRS	Ams/Rot	EFP
01/03/2012	Phys RB1	Q1'13	$ 108.50	75,000
01/03/2012	Phys API#2 Index (DES)	Q2'12	-$ 3.50	150,000	ACPRS	Ams/Rot