Global coal prices are expected to remain healthy throughout 2018 owing to stable demand from China and increasing consumption in India, says the World Coal Association (WCA).
WCA chief executive Benjamin Sporton projected that demand from China would continue to be reasonably strong this year, despite the country’s plan to implement a huge gasification program for households and industries to reduce its dependence on coal.
Furthermore, he said India would also increase its coal imports amid soaring demand from its power generation sector and lower-than-expected domestic production.
“India is not in a shortage situation, but it is running very closely behind it, and that’s really what has driven coal exports into India, and a good chunk of that is coming from Indonesia,” Benjamin told The Jakarta Post recently.
The price of Asian benchmark Newcastle thermal coal had climbed to US$106.78 per ton in January after falling to as low as $74.52 per ton in May last year.
“It’s really the supply constraint that sent the price to above $100 per ton over the last year, […] and I would still expect it to be somewhere in that ballpark for most of this year,” Benjamin said.
The Indonesian government has limited the country’s coal production in 2018 at a maximum level of 485 million tons, 25 percent of which will be allocated for the domestic market.
Within the first two months of 2017, Indonesia’s coal production reached 28.07 million tons, 15.6 million tons of which were absorbed by the domestic market.
