Thermal Coal · Origin deep dive
6,000 kcal NAR, FOB Newcastle (ICE)
High-CV benchmark grade
Newcastle's PWCS and NCIG terminals — the Pacific thermal benchmark's load point.
6,000 kcal/kg NAR high-CV bituminous — the premium grade Asia's HELE fleet burns.
Capesize and Panamax; Hunter Valley rail chain performance caps throughput.
Japan, Korea and Taiwan utilities on term contracts; index spot to traders.
NE Asian summer (Jul-Aug) and winter (Dec-Feb) burn peaks pull hardest.
La Niña flooding in the Hunter Valley, rail maintenance windows, and JKM gas-switching.
Atlantic/India swing tonnes; rail constraints cap exports
Richards Bay Coal Terminal — Africa's largest coal export facility.
5,500-6,000 kcal grades; RB1 spec is the Atlantic-Indian swing reference.
Capesize stems constrained by Transnet rail delivery — the terminal outperforms the railway.
India's price-sensitive utilities and cement, plus European reloads in tight years.
Indian pre-monsoon stocking (Feb-May) is the reliable demand pulse.
Transnet rail failures, cable theft, and India-Indonesia price competition.
Low-CV grade — different market, cement & Indian utilities
Kalimantan river anchorages loading via floating cranes from barges.
4,200 kcal/kg GAR sub-bituminous — a different market from the 6,000 benchmark.
Barge-to-anchorage loading keeps costs minimal; Supramax/Panamax stems.
Indian cement and IPPs, Chinese utilities blending down, Vietnamese industry.
Wet-season (Nov-Mar) barge disruptions; Chinese winter restocking pulls hardest.
Indonesian DMO policy and export levies, wet-season logistics, Chinese import quotas.
Sanctions discount into price-sensitive Asian buyers
Ust-Luga and Murmansk terminals redirecting Russian coal eastward.
5,800-6,000 kcal Kuzbass bituminous — quality holds, the discount is political.
Long rail haul from Kuzbass plus the redirected voyage east — margin-thin at low prices.
India, China and Turkey buying the sanctions discount.
Rail capacity east is the binding constraint year-round.
Sanctions tightening, rail-tariff increases, and the discount compressing below rail cost.