* China import arb remains wide open -Credit Suisse
* U.S. high-sulphur shipments rising to Europe
LONDON Dec 16 (Reuters) – Physical prompt coal prices
were little changed again on Friday but few players were active
in the market and the bid/offer spreads widened as a result.
In the absence of fresh spot trade to give clear price
direction, coal is tracking oil, equities and the euro, as it
has for the past few months.
Oil edged up near £104 a barrel on Friday,
consolidating after heavy falls earlier in the week, due to the
weaker dollar and concerns about U.S. sanctions against Iran,
but euro zone debt worries capped gains.
There was so little coal trading activity on Friday,
however, that prices barely reacted to oil’s steadier tone.
Traders, producers and utilities are focused more on Q1,
where the hot spots of demand might be and what kind of support
for prices could come from severe weather.
Australia is preparing for another active cyclone season as
a La Nina weather pattern again brings heavy rains
. The impact of another La Nina is not expected
to be as severe as last year, when successive cyclones and
tropical storms through the winter and spring flooded coal mines
in Queensland state and caused coal prices to spike.
“Few people among the usual players were in the market, the
holidays seem to have started early and the bid/offer spreads
are so wide that clearly very little if anything is going to
trade,” one European trader said.
Continued…
