* October S.African bid at $85.75/T
* S.African union seeks strike support from rail, port
workers
LONDON Oct 5 (Reuters) – Prompt physical coal prices were
little changed on Friday after a series of trades for South
African, delivered Europe and Newcastle cargoes.
Prices dipped by up to 25 cents a tonne, traders said.
Coal swaps values rose by over $1.00 in early trade,
widening the gap between swaps and physical prices to
$2.70-$3.00 dollars a tonne, traders said.
“Swaps rallied and want to go higher despite coal’s
fundamentals remaining fairly weak but physical prices did not
move,” one European trader said.
Spreading wildcat strikes in South Africa have not yet
affected coal exports but will do so if transport union SATAWU
can persuade rail and port workers to take industrial action
.
Any strike action which substantially reduced the rail
transport of coal to the main port of Richards Bay or to state
utility Eskom would hit exports, cause power cuts and trigger a
coal price spike.
“So far the impact of the truckers’ strike has been to cut
diesel supplies to mines but there are enough stocks at mines
and ports to keep shipping for a while,” one industry source
said.
Continued…
