Insight
Metallurgical coal, the new thermal?
*Please note that this report only includes an Excel data file if this is indicated in "What's included" below
Report summary
Metallurgical coal markets have seen their share of exciting market disruptions over the last decade. However, the increase in these black swan events since the start of the pandemic has been exhausting for market participants. The latest one that has market participants scratching their heads is the crossover of metallurgical coal into thermal markets, as benchmark Newcastle high-calorific value seaborne thermal coal is higher priced than benchmark metallurgical coal for the first time in history. This dynamic provided some support to metallurgical coal prices from July-October 2022, in a period of lower metallurgical coal demand. Non-typical crossover coal from the US was sold on the export market to European utilities to test the technicalities and bolster stocks for emergency power. Since then, crossover coal buying – particularly in Europe – cooled, causing support for metallurgical coal prices to return to traditional support mechanisms.
Table of contents
- Australia
- Russia
- United States
- Australian crossover coal producers
- US crossover coal producers
- Conclusion and upside risk
Tables and charts
This report includes the following images and tables:
- Base case price forecasts for thermal and metallurgical coal benchmarks
- High case price forecast for thermal coal benchmarks compared to base case metallurgical coal benchmarks
What's included
This report contains:
