2010/08/23

(BN) South African Export Coal Slides to Lowest Level in

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South African Export Coal Slides to Lowest Level in Four Months
2010-08-23 10:56:43.886 GMT


By Alistair Holloway and Nicholas Larkin
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Prices for coal shipped from South
Africa's Richards Bay, the continent's biggest export facility
for the fuel, fell to a four-month low. Benchmark European coal
derivatives declined today.
Export prices retreated 54 cents, or 0.6 percent, to an
average $86.34 a metric ton in the week to Aug. 20, according to
IHS McCloskey. That's a second consecutive drop and the lowest
level since the week to April 16. The data are an average based
on daily price assessments and a market survey.
Coal for delivery to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp with
settlement next year fell 0.4 percent to $97.40 a ton at 11:41
a.m. London time. The fuel gained 0.8 percent last week.
The data are drawn from information supplied by ICAP Plc,
GFI Group Inc., Spectron Group Ltd., Credit Suisse Group AG, IHS
McCloskey, Bloomberg and Tradition Financial Services.
Profit from running coal-fired power plants next year, the
so-called clean-dark spread, is about 5.86 euros ($7.44) a
megawatt-hour, Bloomberg data showed. The calculation uses
electricity prices in Germany and takes emissions costs into
account.

For Related News and Information:
Top Commodity Stories: CTOP <GO>
Top Metals Stories: METT <GO>
Top African Stories: AFTO <GO>
Top Shipping Stories: TOP SHIP <GO>
Technical Gauges: BTST <GO>

--Editor: Dan Weeks, John Deane.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Nicholas Larkin in London at +44-20-7673-2069 or
nlarkin1@bloomberg.net;
Alistair Holloway in London at +44-20-7330-7780 or
aholloway1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Carpenter at +44-20-7330-7304 or
ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net