OREANDA-NEWS. In the premium coal category, BMA coals were the most ubiquitous this year, accounting for two-thirds of all Asian spot trades observed, even as higher spot volumes from other mining companies pushed BMA's share down from 83% in H1 2014. Its move to spin off its Illawarra coal assets into newly formed miner South32 also reduced its market share.

Rio Tinto's coals made up 16% of spot trades, while Anglo American took third place at 11%. Premium HCC data includes semi-premium coals such as BMA's blended products of Peak Downs North and Goonyella 'C'.

H1 2015 Asia: PHCC Traded per Producer

The second-tier HCC spot market has seen greater diversity in terms of suppliers over the first six months.

Jellinbah's coals remained the most widely traded, at 34% of the traded volume in H1 2015, up from 24% a year ago.

BMA's share tumbled to 4% from 21% last year, as the producer halted spot sales of its blended products Windsor and Woodlands in the first quarter of this year.

Other major producers in this product segment included Teck, Peabody and Vale with a combined market share of 39%.

H1 2015 Asia: PCI Traded Per Producer

In the PCI segment, BHP Billiton and its joint venture partners saw their share of the spot market rise to 44% in H1 2015, from 23% in the year-ago period.

The rise was to offset sharply lower supply from some producers affected by China's restrictions on fluorine content in its coal imports, sources said. Furthermore, weakening PCI prices might have led some miners to trim output.

Spot Transactions Breakdown Based on Volumes

Peabody and Yancoal took distant second and third places, with 20% and 16% of Asia's market share, respectively.

Also in H1 2015, Panamax-size cargoes, of 60,000 mt to 90,000 mt each, remained the most commonly traded among all cargo sizes, making up 61% of all spot transactions by frequency.

Small-clip cargoes of below 45,000 mt comprised 18% of all deals done, while Capesize shipments (greater than 110,000 mt) accounted for 12% of transactions concluded.