* February S.African bid/offer range at $104.75/$107.15
* Kuznetsk operations restart after earthquake
LONDON Dec 28 (Reuters) – Physical prompt coal
markets saw little activity in the first full day of trading
after Christmas on Wednesday, and in the absence of spot trades
to give price direction, coal was largely tracking the oil, as
it has for the past few months.
There was little coal trading activity on Wednesday as many
traders were bridging the Christmas and New Year holidays.
No physical trades were heard, but February South African
Richard’s Bay cargoes saw a bid/offer range of $104.75/$107.15
per tonne, and March cargoes saw a range of $105.50/$108.
Oil edged up near £108.50 a barrel on Wednesday, up
from around $103 in the middle of the month.
On the supply side, Russia’s Emergencies Minister on
Wednesday granted permission for coal mining operations in the
Kuznetsk Basin to restart after they were halted following a
strong earthquake in southeastern Russia, a Ministry spokeswoman
in Kemerovo said.
(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; editing by James Jukwey)
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