Reuters reported that trade in Europe bound coal has picked up considerably during the past few days after a lull of several weeks over summer, although prices have barely moved.
The report quoted some market sources as saying that “Over 3 million tonnes of prompt South African and Indonesian coal has traded bilaterally or via brokers during the past five days.”
Indian traders said prices in the low USD 80s per tonne for South African coal were more attractive than the USD 86 to USD 88 seen during the summer.
The report quoted a broker as saying that “There is some fresh demand but if prices recover again this will dry up. The Indians are back in the market and they do like the current prices but it's not just the Indians, there are a lot of traders, banks and consumers also in the market now.”
Indian trade buyers and end users need to rebuild their stockpiles, which have been drawn down during the June-September monsoon season when imports usually fall because of weather related shipping delays.