Regional Coal: Napocor seeks five panamaxes of coal for Sual power plant

Philippines' National Power Corp. (Napocor) will hold an emergency tender for five panamax shipments for the Sual station on Oct. 17 for delivery November to December, sources said as reported by Platts.

According to the source, Napocor set a price ceiling of $38/mt CIF for the tender, but interested parties are still trying to convince Napocor to raise the ceiling.

Australian coal suppliers are said to be interested in the tender, although certain quarters are concerned that Chinese suppliers China Coal and Shenhua may still participate in the bidding despite a current supply tightness in China.

Shanxi, which is scrambling to deliver on contractual obligations with the Philippines and South Korea after a mine explosion, will be excluded from the tender, a source said. But one Australian source said his company is not interested in participating in the bidding because his company has no more coal to sell, adding that any available Newcastle supplies nowadays usually go to Europe where thermal coal demand is soaring.

Australian coal suppliers also have to factor in a demurrage cost of about $1.50/mt in submitting price offers at Napocor because of the current congestion at the Newcastle port, the Australian source said.

Australian coals normally could not compete in open, international tenders in the Philippines as Chinese or Indonesian freight advantage usually trumps the Australians.

Sources previously said Indonesian coal suppliers would most likely be unable to compete in the Sual tender because the bituminous coal burned at the power station in the past was found unsuitable. (*)