Washington (Platts)--16Feb2011/604 am EST/1104 GMT

Trading volume in US Powder River Basin coal rose Tuesday, lifting prices at both ends of the curve, while Central Appalachian coal values slipped.

The front-month PRB contract rose to $14/st, up 20 cents from Monday's Platts assessment. Calendar 2012 also ended the session higher, up 20 cents to $15.40/st.

PRB 8,800-Btu/lb contracts traded in notably higher volume than Monday. Physical March 2011 PRB traded at $13.95/st and $14/st, each for one train; April 2011 traded at $14/st for one train; Calendar 2012 traded at $15.40/st and $15.50/st, each for one train.

In the PRB 8,800 financial market, March 2011 traded at $14/st for 5,000 st; Q2 2011 traded at $13.90/st for 5,000 st, $14/st for 10,000 st and at $14/st for 5,000 st. Second-half 2011 traded at $14.50/st for 5,000 st. Calendar 2012 traded at $15.20/st for 5,000 st and at $15.50/st for 10,000 st.

One spread trade was reported, for Q2 2011 PRB physical over PRB financial (zero spread) for one train over 15,000 st. In relatively light trading for Central Appalachian barge coal, front month contracts moved lower, to $70.15/st, as did contracts in Q2 2011 and Q1 2012 terms, which fell to $70.50/st and $77.75/st, respectively. This compares with Monday's assessed values of $70.80/st for the front month, $71.15/st for Q2 2011 and $78/st for Q1 2012. In barges, March 2011 traded at $70.15/st for 10 barges. Q2 2011 traded at $70.75/st for five barges three times, $70.50/st for five barges three times, and $71/st for 10 barges. Q1 2012 traded at $78.25/st for five barges.

--Chang Noh, chang_noh@platts.com

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