The White House and Senate Republicans have reached a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, multiple reports said Monday night, just hours ahead of a midnight deadline. The deal -- which would need to be approved by both chambers of Congress -- would reportedly delay across-the-board spending cuts by two months in addition to raising taxes on incomes of $450,000 and above. A Senate vote could come late Monday. The House has adjourned until Tuesday, and lawmakers could vote after reconvening at noon Eastern time. Reports said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have signed off on the agreement.
Iron Ore prices up - Coal will follow. Spot prices of seaborne iron ore ended the year at a seven-month high in the wake of aggressive buying amid improved Chinese steel demand and prices. Steelmakers reported steady sales for their products over the weekend, and continued to be upbeat about demand in the new year.
"Our steel products have been selling very well recently," said a source at a Hebei mill with capacity of 10 million mt/year. "In fact, our H-beams have been prebooked by buyers all the way to the Chinese New Year."
Sources at four other Chinese mills said they expected 2013 to herald pro-growth initiatives from the new political leadership, which would inevitably boost steel consumption.
"The feel-good sentiment for steel demand in Q1 is very strong," said a Singapore-based trader. "That's helped to lift buyers' confidence, and many are willing to pay more for iron ore."
Chinese manufacturing activity in December expanded at the fastest rate in 19 months, according to the HSBC purchasing managers' index. The PMI, at 51.5, marked the second straight month that output has expanded.
And a bit of trivia .... COALspot.com - Newcastle port in Australia has loaded 3,269,640 MT of thermal and coking coal for week ended 0700 hours 17 December 2012, Newcastle Port Corp. said in its latest weekly operations report released today.
Newcastle port shipped 20.19 percent more coal compared to a week ago. Newcastle port has loaded 2,720,205 MT of coal w/e 10 December 2012.
According to operation report posted on port’s website, as of 0700 hours 17 December 2012, there are 10 vessels off the port waiting to load and 69 vessels with Notified Arrival Time (NAT) allocated and in transit, 10 vessels in the port loading.
Average waiting time for coal vessels (Entered port during the week) Vessels entered were 40 and average waiting time was around 5.64 days.
CPL Price at posting:
72.0¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
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