PUBLICATION: Bloomberg
JOURNALIST: Leony Aurora and Bambang Dwi Djanuarto
DATE: 2008-07-10 01:15:10.450 ( New York )
July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Somyot Ruchirawat, president director
of PT Indo Tambangraya Megah, the Indonesian unit of Banpu Pcl,
Thailand 's biggest coal producer, comments on coal prices. He
spoke in an interview yesterday.
Thermal coal prices at Australia 's Newcastle port, a
benchmark for Asia , rose 13 percent to a record for a sixth week.
Prices climbed to $194.79 a metric ton in the week ended July 4,
according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index.
``The current prices are quite short term. There's no proof
of the fundamentals to back up the prices that we see right now,
so we have to be careful.
``We still believe that the price will remain strong this
year. In the first half of 2009, I think it will still be strong.
After that we have to closely monitor it because there will be a
change in China .
`` China will be a big variable. They are controlling their
coal stocks to ensure the supply of electricity, especially
during the Olympic Games. But after the games, we don't know.
Maybe they will have sufficient coal and release some to the
export market.''
--Editor: Alex Devine.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Leony Aurora in Jakarta at +62-21-3435-3023 or
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