Macquarie Group Ltd said that contract prices of coking coal to make steel for the fourth quarter were lower than expected, at USD 209 a tonne rather than a forecast of USD 215 a tonne.
Macquarie in a report said that prices for Australian coking coal have rallied in the past week or so to more than USD 210 a tonne.
It said that steel production may rebound in the fourth quarter and next year, helping the coal price to be robust heading into the end of the year and rise to USD 250 a tonne by mid 2011.