* China takes Colombian prompt cargoes
* Niche markets are now overcrowded
LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) – European physical coal prices
were little changed on Tuesday as the market remained subdued
after the Easter holiday weekend and no fresh trades were
reported.
The market is unlikely to rebalance and be able to absorb
the current oversupply until the autumn when demand is expected
to increase, traders said.
“The market’s barely moved in the past few weeks, it’s very
tough to make money in these conditions and even the niche
markets like Turkey are suddenly overcrowded with new
suppliers,” one trader said.
Turkey is likely to import around 20 million tonnes of coal
this year and is the only growth hot spot in the Atlantic but
Russian suppliers who had the Turkish market to themselves are
finding their prices undercut by a host of traders and utilities
offering other coal origins.
China and India have continued to take substantial
quantities of South African coal – China took 1.3 million tonnes
in March and India took 1.9 million and China
has started to buy competitively-priced Colombian imports.
Three cargoes of prompt Colombian coal have been fixed into
China during the past week, suppliers said.
Continued…
