Newcastle coal price rises to record AUD 172.10 a tonne - 01 Jul, 2008
Bloomberg reported that thermal coal prices at Australia's Newcastle port jumped to a record for a fifth week as demand for the fuel surged in countries including India and China.
According to the globalCOAL NEWC Index, coal prices at the New South Wales port rose AUD 9.44 or 5.8% to AUD 172.10 a tonne in the week ended June 27th 2008.
The price of coal more than doubled in a year as Australian ports become congested and China, the world's biggest producer and consumer of the fuel, cut exports to meet soaring domestic demand. Xstrata, the world's largest exporter of power-station coal, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Group are among mining companies that ship coal through Newcastle.
