* Heavy swaps selling weakens physical values again
* End-user buying interest remains minimal
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) – Physical prompt coal prices were
little changed for a third day on Wednesday, with a few DES ARA
European trades reported at numbers a few cents away from the
most recent deals done at around $90.25 a tonne.
The market is trying to find a new range between around
$85-$90 a tonne for both delivered Europe and FOB prices,
traders and end-users said.
There is still some expectation that prices could test
support and drift lower during the next two months, typically
the season of weakest spot buying and that continued heavy swaps
selling could push prices back to the two-year lows reached in
June.
“Oil has been one of the major factors because there’s been
so little to give coal direction and the prompt months in
particular are still under pressure from oversupply,” one
European trader said.
Brent crude gained on Wednesday for the sixth session, as
bloodshed in Syria highlighted worries about Middle Eastern oil
supply and outweighwed concerns about the state of the global
economy.
Continued…
