price growth still on the table

Bloomberg 31/01/13 - Bloomberg reported that Power station coal at the Australian port of Newcastle a benchmark grade for Asia will rebound this year amid rising demand from China according to Standard Chartered Plc. Newcastle prices will rise to USD 100 a tonne in 2014 after averaging USD 95 a tonne this year, Mr Serene Lim an analyst at the bank said that at a conference in Singapore. The coal benchmark slid to USD 94.29 a tonne in 2012 from more than USD 120 in 2011 according to data from IHS McCloskey. “China’s economy will improve as the year progresses,” said that Mr Lim, forecasting China’s economic growth will be 8.3% this year up from 7.8% in 2012. He said that “We saw last year Chinese seaborne demand was the key.” China’s coal consumption may rise as much as 6% this year amid investments in infrastructure, Mr Hao Xiangbin, the head of marketing at the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association said that at the same conference.

The fuel may average USD 98 a tonne this year and increase to USD 108 next year Mr Andrew Shaw a commodities analyst at Credit Suisse AG said that at the conference. Prices will range from USD 90 to USD 95 a tonne this year and rise to USD 105 in 2014 according to Isnaputra Iskandar the vice president of equity research at PT Nomura Indonesia.