Chinese utility Huaneng purchased 690,000t of imported coal to be delivered to its power plants during late August to early October. Of this, around 543,000t was Indonesian coal in a NAR 3,800-5,500 kcal/kg range. This included 178,000t of GAR 4,200 kcal/kg coal in three shipments for delivery from late August to mid-September, which were awarded at prices netting back to $31.80-32/t fob, below the level of recent trades.
In the spot market, a cross-month loading August-September geared Supramax GAR 4,200 kcal/kg cargo was bid at $32.50/t today, in line with yesterday, and offered at $33-33.25/t. A September-loading geared Supramax cargo of the same coal was bid at $31.80/t but no corresponding offers were heard.
Offers for late August-loading geared Supramax cargoes were around $32/t, down from offers of $32.50-33.50/t yesterday for August-loading shipments. Bids were still hard to come by at this level.
By comparison, spot trades involving August- and September-loading geared Supramax cargoes of this coal traded last week at $33-33.15/t, and Argus assessed the fob GAR 4,200 kcal/kg price at $33.13/t most recently on 2 August.
Bid levels will likely fall on the news of the tender results, potentially pulling the market down further, market participants said.
Trading was slow in the ICI 4 derivatives market. August ICI 4 contracts were bid at $32.30/t and offered at $33/t, roughly in line with yesterday but down from the last Argus-assessed price for this month on 31 July at $33.80/t. September contracts were bid and offered at $32.10-32.75/t, around the level of yesterday's Argus-assessed settlement price of $32.45/t for September.
In the Australian thermal coal market, a few Capesize and Panamax cargoes of NAR 5,500 kcal/kg coal were offered around $50/t fob Newcastle for September-November loading, down from the Argus-assessed price of $50.10/t fob Newcastle last week, but bids were scarce.
China's domestic coal prices held steady today, with offers of NAR 5,500 kcal/kg coal at around 590 yuan/t ($83.70/t) fob northern China ports, while bids were around Yn585-590/t fob. This compares with Argus' latest assessment of Yn594.20/t ($85.44/t) fob Qinhuangdao on 2 August.
In China's futures market, the September contract on the Zhengzhou commodity exchange closed at Yn578.40/t today, up by Yn0.40/t from yesterday.