The near-term Northern Appalachia coal market is "extremely tight" because of export deand, 

a  situation  that  could be further aggravated by a possible ban on the consumption of petro 

leum coke in India, say market sources. 

An export NAPP deal was heard this week priced in the high $70s/mt FOB Baltimore destined 

for India, according to two market sources. 

When asked if NAPP demand from India has increased, one US-based producer said there's 

"no question about it," and added that interest is also stretching into the Illinois Basin. 

"I  don't  know if we'll have enough coal for the first quarter" because of export demand, said 

the  producer.  Cargoes  heading to India will add a "fairly significant amount of coal" into the 

seaborne market, the producer said. 

According to estimates from the US Energy Information Administration, fourth-quarter NAPP 

production through November 18 totaled 13.2 million st, down 27% compared with the year-

ago period. 

The  undersupplied  NAPP  market,  thanks  in  part to recent production delays at the Bailey, 

Cumberland and Federal longwall mines, has led to Q4 domestic utility demand but the miner 

said there's no real tonnage available stateside because of elevated seaborne values. 

The producer said prompt pricing for 13,000 Btu/lb, 4.5 lb SO2/MMBtu coal is at $53/st FOB 

mine in the domestic market but higher at $57/st FOB mine for export. 

The  demand  from India and overseas has led to planned production increases in Q1 2018, 

the  producer  said, but how much additional tons is still unknown. The miner said its output 

could rise as high as 1 million st to 1.5 million st for Q1. 

"In  the  short  term,  we're  looking at expanding going into working Saturdays and Sundays 

when  we  were  not  doing  so  before  and  decreasing  maintenance  shifts and increasing 

production shifts," the producer said.