China Thermal Coal Supplies Rise to 32-Week High as Price Slides
Bloomberg
Sarah Chen

Power-station coal stockpiles at China’s largest port for the fuel rose to the highest level in 32 weeks as prices slid to a three-year low. . . 

Utilities in China, the world’s biggest energy user, cut coal consumption as hydro power generation increased in the first two months, according to Helen Lau, a Hong Kong-based analyst at UOB-Kay Hian Ltd. Stockpiles also rose because the landed cost of imported coal is about 10 yuan to 20 yuan a ton cheaper than domestic supplies, she said. Coal at the Australian port of Newcastle, a benchmark grade for Asia, cost $89.15 a ton as of March 15, according to data from IHS McCloskey. . . 

“Power plants are keen to restock inventories when domestic coal is still at a premium to imports, leading to high inventories,” Lau said. Chinese prices are “close to a bottom” as the country’s power demand is set to pick up in the second quarter, she said.

Thermal coal market slack amid supply-demand imbalance: SocGen
London (Platts)--21Mar2013/1232 pm EDT/1632 GMT

The seaborne thermal coal market is likely to remain slack as increasing global export capacity over 2013-14 slightly outpaces demand growth, according to a report by Societe Generale Thursday.

The French investment bank revised down its European CIF ARA year-ahead (Cal-14) price forecast by 4% to $99.40/mt in 2013.
...
SocGen said that expected reductions in excess coal supply over the next six quarters would ultimately provide a floor around the $90-95/mt level for CIF ARA calendar year products.

The bank said that "significant changes in prices will only come via material changes in supply and demand balance -- and for the next year we see neither side changing materially."

--Gareth Carpenter, gareth_carpenter@platts.com --Edited by James Leech, james_leech@platts.com