In a thin market, first quarter 2011 NYMEX look-alike traded at $62.20/st, 45 cents higher than the Platts Wednesday assessment.
OTC trading volumes were low, with sources telling Platts that industry conferences had pulled some players out of the market. Additionally, one coal trader said that with the OTC market entering shoulder months, many participants will begin re-evaluating physical positions, an action which may
affect liquidity for about four to six weeks.
Trading in near-term look-alike contracts was non-existent on Thursday. Moving across the forward curve, the first look-alike product to trade was Q1 2011 at $62.20/st for 30 barges, and twice for five barges. Trading for volume, the contract priced 45 cents higher than the prior Platts' assessment.
Q2 2011 traded in a spread over Q3 2011 at a discount of $2.50/st for five barges. Wednesday's implied Platts spread stood at -$2.55/st.
Market sources told Platts that interest existed in the Q3 2011 contract, with the bid/offer spread nearing $67.00/st by $67.50/st. There were no reports of finalized deals in the contract.
Physical Powder River Basin 8,800-Btu/lb traded in the October contract at $14.50/st for delivery of one train/month, and then later in the session at $14.70/st for the delivery of one train/month. Platts assessed the contract at $14.40/st on Wednesday.
CSX rail delivery 12,500-Btu/lb, -1% sulfur physical coal was reported to have traded once on Wednesday in the October contract at $67.70/st, unchanged from the prior Platts assessment.
Turnover in the derivative market was equally light. PRB 8,800 financial traded once in the calendar year 2011 contract at $14.60/st for the delivery of 10,000 st.
Market sources stated that trades came close in the Q1 2011 CSX swap contract, with the bid/offer spread pulling as tight as $66.30/st by $66.50/st, however, no deals were executed.
China Chemical Weekly: http://news.chemnet.com/en/detail-1411716.html
