Commodities Watch Indonesia: Coal Up & Oil Down
Strengthening coal prices continued at the end of trading on Thursday (03/08), or early Friday morning morning Indonesian time zone, while at the same time crude oil prices declined again. Yesterday, the price of coal (for October 2017 contract, the most active contract on the Rotterdam commodities exchange) rose 0.80 percent to USD $81.55 per metric ton, hence extending gains.
In contrast to coal, crude oil prices slipped below the level of USD $50 per barrel due to increased production in the US causing concerns about excess supply.
The price of West Texas Intermediate (for September delivery) fell 1.1 percent to USD $49.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, Brent oil for October delivery fell 0.35 points to USD $52.01 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Based on data from the Energy Information Administration, released on Wednesday, US oil production increased 20,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) to 9.43 million bpd for the week ending on 28 July 2017. On the other hand, crude inventories fell 1.53 million barrels and gasoline reserves fell to their lowest level since December following surging consumption.
"In the end, it looks like we're going to see a steady decline in inventories, not only on for crude oil but also on the product side as demand is decent", said Bart Melek, Head Analyst for Global Commodities at TD Securities.
"However, prices will not strengthen too far until there is certainty surrounding OPEC's policy and the market's fundamentals next year," he continued.
Coal Futures (October 2017 Contract Rotterdam):
| 28 July |
31 July | 1 Aug. |
2 Aug. |
3 Aug. | |
| Price (USD/ton) |
80.80 | 81.95 | 80.65 | 80.90 | 81.55 |
Source: Bisnis Indonesia