Short-term outlook is for firm, possibly rising, prices

摘要

The short-term outlook is for continued firm prices in the Atlantic basin with further price increases possible in the near-term months. For this week, continued demand, and continued limited supply, is pushing up Atlantic basin prices again as consumers in Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Scandinavia and elsewhere search for coal for Q4 and Q1. A general heat wave across much of Western and Northern Europe is not helping matters for the buyers. Nor is Asian coal turning out to be the savior many had hoped. "Some companies are trying" to get some coal from Asia, "but it's not as easy as they thought," one buyer said. "I think the Chinese now believe that if they wait a little, they can also get higher prices."