Newcastle thermal coal prices fell slightly. The strike at Colombia’s Cerrejon mine continued into its second week with a resolution between Cerrejon, the Government and miners yet to be reached. Uncertainty over the strike, impacting about 30 million tonnes of thermal coal exports into the seaborne market, may have contributed to choppy trading over the past week. Meanwhile, coking coal spot prices edged higher ($171) despite the absence of Chinese buyers due to holidays. Coking coal appears to be playing catch up to the 7% rally in iron ore prices, and tighter availabilities for delivered cargoes to India and China suggests demand should remain firm.
