* Coal to see depressed prices into 2013 – Credit Suisse
* November S.African bid at $79.50/T
LONDON Oct 12 (Reuters) – Prompt physical coal prices fell
by $1 a tonne on Friday amid a flurry of Q4 trades.
Four December loading South African cargoes traded at $83.75
a tonne FOB Richards Bay, $2.50 lower than the previous day’s
traded level.
There is a substantial amount of Q4 South African coal in
the hands of traders which they are now offering and this is
helping to weaken prices, traders and utilities said.
The sellers of the four December cargoes were all different
companies but one buyer took at least three, they said.
“There was a bid at $79.50 a tonne for November South
African and that doesn’t look like a ridiculous number,” one
trader said.
Both India and China, the two biggest spot buyers of thermal
coal, remain sidelined, and this will further weigh on prices,
they said.
India’s imports of coal in general and South African in
particular have been strong all year despite the current lull in
spot buying.
Continued…
