Anglo assures customers of 3Q met coal shipments

UK-South African mining firm Anglo American has today informed several steel mills and trading firms that it expects to meet its contracted obligations for the third quarter, Argus has learned. This follows the closure of Anglo American's 5mn t/yr Grosvenor coking coal mine in the Bowen basin region of Australia's Queensland, following an accident in late June.

Anglo American is "evaluating the impact of this incident and is expecting to perform on its third-quarter obligations as planned at this moment, subject to change depending on further assessment", an Asian steel mill source said. Others said the same, with an Indian buyer stating that the company is "not expecting any material impact to supply in the short term, since the miner is expected to meet third-quarter commitments".

Some sources cautioned that cargo delays are still anticipated, with one trading source expecting delays of more than 20 days.

Production at Grosvenor had been strong for the past couple of months, after a challenging 2023. The producer increased spot offers on the market in the past two months, with at least three July-loading Panamax cargoes sold and at least two Panamax cargoes being offered for August loading, before the 29 June accident.

The paper market also cooled down today after sharp increases earlier this week, market participants said. Fob Australia premium futures contracts were trading at around $253-254/t and $257-258/t for July and August, respectively, on 3 July, falling by around $8-10/t from 2 July.

Supply availability for the fourth quarter remains uncertain, with some market participants expecting the market to tighten in anticipation of stronger demand. "There is some demand surfacing from India this week for August and September-loading cargoes, so prices may see some support once September cargoes are being discussed, because other mines are also going to be in maintenance during that time," an international trader said.

The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal price was assessed at $257.50/t fob Australia on 3 July, down by $2.10/t from 2 July.