BTU - Europe coal price spikes as South Africa strike whacks supply

The price of importing coal to European ports rose by the most since May , Bloomberg reported Wednesday, as a strike in South Africa curtails coal shipments during the middle of an energy crisis.

The strike by Transnet employees over wages is lasting longer than expected and has started to take a serious toll on exports, DBX Commodities CEO Alex Claude told Bloomberg, adding that coal flows out of South Africa last week totaled just 600K tons, the lowest in more than a year.

Traders are relying increasingly on South Africa because European Union sanctions ban purchases from Russia, long the continent's largest source of coal.

Front-month European coal futures rose as much as 11% Wednesday to ~$290/ton, rebounding from a nearly seven-month low on October 10.

Among potentially relevant tickers: ( NYSE: BTU ), ( NYSE: ARCH ), ( CEIX ), ( SXC ), ( HCC ), ( AMR ), ( ARLP )

Spot prices for U.S. coal from Central Appalachia rose to $204.95/ton for the week ending September 30, the highest in records dating to 2005 .

For further details see: