Column-Robust China coal demand amid Australia import ban fuels price rally: Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia (Reuters) – Seaborne coal has become a quiet winner among energy commodities, lacking the attention of higher-profile crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), but enjoying strong gains amid rising demand. Both thermal coal, used in power plants, and coking coal, used to make steel, have rallied strongly in recent months. And in both cases the driver has largely been China, the world’s biggest producer, importer and consumer of the fuel. There are two elements to China’s influence on seaborne coal markets in Asia; robust demand as the Chinese economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic; and Beijing’s policy choice to ban imports from Australia. Both elements are reflected in the prices, with lower-quality thermal coal from Indonesia being the biggest beneficiary. The weekly index for Indonesian coal with an energy value of 4,200 kilocalories per kilogram (kcal/kg), as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, has surged nearly three-quarters from its 2021 low of $36.81 a tonne to $63.98 in the week to July 2. There is a demand-pull element helping to boost prices of Indonesian coal, with data from commodity analysts Kpler showing China imported 18.36 million tonnes from the world’s largest shipper of thermal coal in… continue reading

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