Central Appalachian thermal coal prices closed mixed in the session, with only two trades seen Monday.
A CAPP barge time spread was seen trading in the late morning, while a CAPP rail (CSX) quarterly swap went through after the 4 pm EST Market on Close.
Turnover in the CAPP barge contract was down sharply from Friday, when 510 contracts were seen trading over the counter.
CAPP barge second-quarter 2014 over Q3 2014 traded at 25 cents for 10 barges/month.
Platts assessed the Q2 2014 price at $62.50/st, up 50 cents. Q3 2014 was assessed at $62.25/st, up 25 cents.
Shortly after the 4 pm EST MOC, CSX financial Q3 2014 traded at $64.50/st for 10,000 st/month.
API2 FRONT QUARTER AT LOWEST LEVEL SINCE MARCH 2010
The API2 (CIF ARA) prompt quarter was assessed $73.40/mt, down 95 cents from Friday and the lowest price level since March 2010.
Market sources continued to attribute the combination of oversupply in the Atlantic and low coal burn by European utilities in the midst of mild winter temperatures as responsible for the slate of bearishness in the CIF ARA market.
A northwest European utility trader said that those two factors had been "toxic" for coal prices, adding that it was "hard to see any [bullish] drivers going forward."
The CIF ARA-FOB CSX, or implied transportation, spread, narrowed to $8.51/mt from $9.66/mt on Friday, a year-to-date low.
US East Coast thermal coal (6,500 kcal/kg NAR 1% sulfur) was assessed down $1 to $77.50/mt.
