Prices and costs – Coal 2020 – Analysis - IEA
API4, which is FOB prices at Richards Bay, South Africa, started 2020 in backwardation (opposite to contango), as a result of a price rally in the final-quarter 2019, due to the demand pushed by sponge iron buyers in India in conjunction with the South African utility Eskom, which was buying spot as the coal shortage threatened electricity supply.