Coal prices could fall even further from here [View all]

[LiberalArkie]

A villager moves coal at local businessman Sun Meng's small coal depot near a coal mine of the state-owned Longmay Group on the outskirts of Jixi, in Heilongjiang province, China, October 23, 2015.

The coal market is in a dark place. With a 10 percent slide in prices during the last few months of 2015 having this week triggered the bankruptcy of America’s second-largest miner, Arch Coal.

And it appears some of the world’s biggest insiders in the business think the market could go even lower.

That was the message coming out of Japan this week. Where Platts reports that major coal buyer Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) has decided to keep its options open on pricing supply for the coming year.

Sources said that Tepco has opted for floating price contracts with Australian thermal coal suppliers for 2016. A departure from the firm’s usual buying strategy of locking in term contracts at fixed prices.

Snip

http://www.businessinsider.com/coal-prices-could-fall-even-further-from-here-2016-1