Coal prices bounced away from multi-year lows this week as the northern hemisphere’s peak demand winter season underpinned the market, but the longer-term outlook remains bleak due to falling consumption in major markets and cheap oil. In January, physical thermal coal prices fell below levels last seen during the 2008/9 global financial crisis, hit by a combination of factors, including tumbling oil prices and excess supply as a result of slowing economic growth and the rising use of alternative fuels for power generation.
