Australia's Newcastle Thermal Coal Price Drops for Fifth Week

By Jesse Riseborough

Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Thermal coal prices at Australia's Newcastle port, a benchmark for Asia, fell for a fifth straight week, declining 2.6 percent amid increasing supplies from mines in China, the world's biggest consumer of the fuel.

The weekly index for power-station coal prices at the New South Wales port fell $4.24 to $156.16 a metric ton in the week ended Aug. 8, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index. The index traded at a record $194.79 for the week ended July 4.

China, also the world's largest producer of coal, will boost output at large mines this half to ease a shortage of the fuel, the state work safety bureau said Aug. 9. Xstrata Plc, the world's largest exporter of power-station coal, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group are among mining companies that ship coal through Newcastle.

The weekly globalCOAL index is up 72 percent so far this year. The monthly index for July increased 13 percent to $184.51.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jesse Riseborough in Melbourne at jriseborough@bloomberg.net