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Not really..South African coal in the doldrums at the moment:

More offers of prompt S.African weigh on prices


LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Coal prices fell by around 50-75 U.S. cents a tonne on Thursday as the market caught up with oil's steel correction on the previous day but more offers of coal in the teeth of weak demand also pushed prices lower.

"Coal came off by around $1.00 in early trading as it caught up with oil but the market's steadied somewhat since then," one European trader said.

"Everybody has too much coal, there's minimal demand in Europe and prices have to come down to bring the Asian buyers back," a utility source said.

South African producers will have unsold spot coal for July, August and September and there is no sign of Indian demand at prices of over $110.00 a tonne.

If the key Indian buyers -- who take around one-third of South Africa's exports -- remain sidelined and China opts for low-grade or discounted coal instead, FOB Richards Bay prices have to correct downwards to around $110.00 to trigger fresh buying, exporters and traders said.

"In the coming two months, we see lacklustre demand for South African coal in line with weaker oil and commodity markets as there are ample stocks and healthy flows from the US and Colombia," Barclays Capital said in its latest Coal and Freight Monthly report.

"We expect a greater pull for coal in Europe at the end of Q3 that intensifies by the beginning of Q4," BarCap said.

BarCap was more bullish about demand from Asia, predicting robust demand especially from China.

A potential VAT rebate on China's coal imports could temporarily boost imports but any early signs of a pick up in hydro availability would ease the need for imports, the report said.

Japan may come back to the market by July or August for spot cargoes as coal-fired power plants restart, having been halted by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Tokyo Electric (9501.T) said on Thursday that it has restarted its 600 MW No. 5 coal unit at the Hirono plant. The other four units use crude and fuel oil [ID:nL3E7HG0XR].

"The Japanese have given some indications that they'll come back to the market by August and that may offer some support to prices but only if they're visibly buying fresh cargoes, not taking some extra coal under long-term contract," one producer source said.