* Global economic growth seen as key price driver
* Aug S.African trades at $1/T below API4
LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) – Physical prompt coal prices were
bid slightly higher on Friday after five days of consecutive
falls and few trades were reported.
Coal was particularly illiquid on Friday but was partly
bolstered by a 1 percent rise in oil prices while it ignored
falls in European power prices on more renewables and lower
demand.
Trade and end-user buyers remained for the most part on the
sidelines, waiting for the market to steady.
“There have been some people who bought at over $90 on the
June rally who’ve now been selling at $84. Meanwhile, nothing
much has changed,” one European trader said.
Some production cuts have been made in higher-cost exporting
countries, which will help prices stabilise in the second half
of the year but the determining factor for prices will be global
economic growth, not just China’s, Credit Suisse said in its
latest commodities outlook.
In the nearer term, the outlook remains bearish with limited
scope for much of a move upwards from current levels.
“We see upside potential for natural gas in Europe driven by
growing LNG cargo diversions to Asia,” Barclays Capital said in
a research note on Friday.
Continued…
