AusRAIL, Market Sectors

Asian coal buyers look elsewhere as Australian exports falter

<p>Coal exporters’ fears about the impact of infrastructure bottlenecks may be being borne out, with an Australian Bureau of Resource Economics (Abare) analyst saying Asian buyers were flocking to South Africa and Canada to make up the shortfall. </p> <p>Asian buyers were scrambling to find alternative suppliers to replace China and Australia, whose exports are down, with Korean and Japanese utilities buying several cargoes of South African coal since June, commodities analyst Alan Copeland told newsagency Reuters.</p> <p>"As long as Asian coal prices remain where they are, then South African coal prices will remain competitive and the Japanese and Koreans will buy more from them,&#8221 Mr Copeland said on the side of the Coaltrans conference in Brisbane.</p> <br />