Newcastle coal exports doing well despite China ban, according to various price indices

Coal export tonnages are down noticeably this year, mainly, according to official statistics, because of the Chinese ban on Australian coal.

But the price increases are making up for the reductions in volume, and the Chinese ban may not be having as much of an impact on the Australian industry as intended, with reports that countries selling to China in our place are then having to buy Australian coal to make up their own shortfalls.

Reuters news agency reported earlier this month that high quality 6000-kilocalorie Newcastle coal had hit a spot price of $121.40 a tonne, earlier this month, up about $US20 a tonne in a single month.

Iron ore prices have also gone through the roof, and have been quoted as high as $US215 ($290) a tonne in recent days, or twice the price of a year ago.

The Chinese government has complained about the price of both commodities, and Reuters reported on Friday that the country's "state planner" and its "market regulator" had launched a joint investigation into coal prices and alleged speculation and hoarding of coal supplies.

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Reuters said that lower grade 5500 kilocalorie coal had been selling in China for almost $US140 ($189) a tonne, leading "Chinese coal pricing indices to suspend publication of daily assesments in a bid to stabilise prices".

By comparison, the same quality coal had been selling out of Newcastle for less than $US60 ($81) a tonne in recent months.

The price increases have in turn fed into the share prices of at least some coal producers. Gunnedah Basin producer Whitehaven has seen its share price more than double since August last year from less than $1 to more than $2 recently, although those quotes are well below the $5.80 its stock was bringing at its most recent peak in mid-2018.

However, the Chinese-backed Newcastle exporter, Yancoal, has had a share price dip from about $2.40 in January to just over $2 recently.

The Chinese ban on Australian coal followed the Australian government's call for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19, with relations between the two countries having cooled substantially since.

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