* Chinese buyers on sidelines, S.Korea issues tenders
* July S.African cargo bid at $82/T
LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) – European delivered coal prices
traded at a fresh two-year low of $84.90 a tonne on Monday, down
over $1.00 from Friday as oversupply and a slowdown in spot
buying weighed on the market.
Spot demand in Europe has been limited this year, leaving
suppliers increasingly dependent upon Asian demand so the sharp
slowdown in Chinese spot buying during the past week has a
magnified impact.
“There’s so little buying overall, nothing wanted in China
now, they have hit their maximum import capacity and can’t
physically take more till inventories start to be used,” one
trader said.
“Without China buying at the moment, there is coal with
nowhere else to go,” he added.
An August delivery DES ARA parcel traded at $84.90, 50 cents
below the low of $85.00 reached in mid-May but further falls are
likely, traders and utilities said.
In the meantime, others in Asia such as South Korea are
buying, but not enough to make up for China’s lack of activity.
South African prompt prices have also come under pressure
from weak fundamentals and have now dropped back below DES ARA
levels, having been at a strong premium for months.
Continued…
