European coal price fell on weak demand and over supply
Reuters reported that European physical coal prices fell further on Wednesday, continuing this week's trend, on weak demand and oversupply.
Cargoes for delivery in May to Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp (ARA) traded at USD 74.75 a tonne in the afternoon, down USD 0.75 from their previous settlement.
Traders said that the lower prices were a result of oversupply combining with weak demand.
One coal trader said that "Stocks are full after the mild winter and demand for May, when there are a lot of bank holidays across Europe, and further into the warmer summer months is also low, so prices are falling."
Traders added that the gas market was a good gauge of the bearish European sentiment at the moment.
A utility trader said that "Gas prices are down sharply despite the Ukraine crisis posing a serious threat to Russian supply cuts to Europe. But given how low demand is and how many alternative sources there are, the market just isn't worried."
Ukraine is an important transit country for Russian natural gas supplies to the European Union, and Russia has threatened to cut supplies to Ukraine should Kiev not pay outstanding bills of over USD 2 billion.
Source – Reuters