* Alpha cuts 9 pct of workforce due to U.S. demand slump
* Oil slides below $114 a barrel
LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Bids and offers for prompt coal
cargoes were several dollars apart on Tuesday at around $83-$88
a tonne for South African material, although prices were little
changed and no fresh trades were reported.
Oil slid to under $114 a barrel, extending the losses in the
previous trading session, and weighed on coal values.
Expectations that QE3 would help boost sagging coal prices
over the coming months briefly gave prices support last week.
“The weakness in the dollar-denominated coal financial
contracts were stark given the reaction to QE3 of both the oil
contract and the weakening dollar index,” Barclays Capital said
in a research note on Tuesday.
The market globally remains oversupplied and this will take
months to rebalance as production cuts start to be felt in
high-cost miners such as the U.S., Russia and Australia,
utilities and traders said.
U.S. coal miner Alpha Natural Resources Inc is
cutting 1,200 jobs or 9 percent of its workforce, as increased
use of natural gas eats into domestic coal demand.
U.S. miners rushed to export thermal coal unwanted by the
domestic market during 2011 but fresh sales have dried up
because they are not viable at such depressed European prices.
Continued…
