* Nov DES ARA trades at $92.80/T
* FARC guerillas blow up trucks at Cerrejon, Colombia mine
* More Colombian coal offered
LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Physical coal prices in
Europe trickled lower by 10 cents a tonne on Wednesday but
traders said they were set for further falls because the drop in
supply has been outpaced by shrinking spot demand.
Thermal coal prices have rebounded from the two-year lows
seen in June but there was still too much coal available in both
the Atlantic and Pacific markets to justify prices of around
$90, suppliers and end-users said.
While U.S. thermal coal exports have slowed, there were more
prompt cargoes available from Colombia, after the Fenoco rail
strike ended and affected producers accelerated their railings
to port, to try and catch up with delayed shipments.
Leftist FARC rebels in Colombia on Tuesday blew up two
trucks at Cerrejon’s opencast mine, the latest in a string of
attacks this year, but which had no significant impact on
exports.
Signals from the Coaltrans Beijing conference this week have
been bearish and the only Chinese buying seen has been for
heavily-discounted cargoes, traders and suppliers said.
“The Chinese are doing virtually nothing spot, the usual big
traders there are stuck with massive inventories they bought at
much higher prices and they also have no buyers,” one European
trader said.
Continued…
