Asia Coal-Prices drop toward $85/T in holiday-thinned trade - RTRS

China, Japan demand underpin coal prices But China's import demand may weaken in coming weeks Coal stocks at China's Qinhuangdao port rise By Fayen Wong SHANGHAI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Australian thermal coal prices fell slightly in the past week as enquiries thinned over the holiday season, although demand from China and Japan helped keep prices above $85 a tonne. Australia's Newcastle weekly spot index fell to $85.63 per tonne on Friday from $86.30 on Dec. 28, data from the online trading platform globalCOAL showed. "The market was quieter last week because of holidays but demand in North Asia is pretty strong. The Chinese are buying and the Japanese are also in the market because their nuclear plants are down for maintenance," said a Singapore-based trader. In a sign of robust demand, shipments from Australia's Gladstone coal rose to a record 6.37 million tonnes in December, of which 2.08 million tonnes was shipped to China - up 16.6 percent from November. Thermal coal shipments from Newcastle port rose 11.6 percent to 3.85 million tonnes in the week to Dec. 23. However, import demand from China - the world's top coal consumer - may be hit in the coming weeks as rising stockpiles at ports and power plants, as well as shorter ship queues, suggest that a three-month long rally in domestic coal prices may start to weaken soon. Domestic coal prices at the top Qinhuangdao coal port in China rose to about 650-660 yuan ($110) per tonne on Dec. 30, from 635-645 yuan on Dec. 23, according to data by industry portal SXCOAL. "Stocks are building up at the power plants and Chinese miners are beginning to cut prices, so domestic prices might start to fall soon," said a Shanghai-based trader. Coal stocks at Qinhuangdao port rose to 5.407 million tonnes on Thursday, up from 4.63 million tonnes on Dec. 27, while ship queues waiting at the northern ports have also dropped, trade sources said. ($1 = 6.0506 Chinese yuan) ref: SPI www.spi.sanlam.co.za