Newcastle Port Power-Station Coal Price Gains for Second WeekBy...

Newcastle Port Power-Station Coal Price Gains for Second Week

By Jesse Riseborough

Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Power station coal prices at Australia's Newcastle port, a benchmark for Asia, rose for a second week, gaining 3.2 percent amid rising demand from utilities.

The weekly index for power-station coal prices at the New South Wales port increased $3.19 to $104.02 a metric ton in the week ended Nov. 7, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index.

Shipments from the port, the world's biggest coal-export harbor, increased 35 percent last week to the most in 15 months as demand rebounded. The price has slumped 47 percent from a July 4 record as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression curbs demand for raw materials.

``We continue to view the thermal coal market as remaining tight, with utilities viewing security of supply as key and unlikely to renege on volumes,'' UBS AG analysts said in a Nov. 7 report.

Xstrata Plc, the world's largest exporter of power-station coal, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group are among mining companies that ship coal through Newcastle. Thermal coal producers won a 125 percent increase in annual contract prices in the year that started April 1 to $125 a ton.

The price fell to a nine-month low of $96 in the week ended Oct. 24. The monthly index fell 26 percent to $106.92 a ton in October, from $144.82 the previous month.

UBS cut its 2009 contract price forecast by 20 percent last month to $100 a ton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jesse Riseborough in Melbourne at [email protected]
Last Updated: November 9, 2008 18:42 EST