Xstrata Sets Coal Contracts Above Analysts’ Expectations

Xstrata, which achieved record output of power-station coal ihigh efficiency vibrating screenn the third quarter, agreed on annual contracts with long-term Japanese customers at prices that exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Xstrata settled coal prices at $126.50 a metric ton from Oct. 1, compared with $129.85 on April 1, the Zug, Switzerland- based company said today in a statement. “Considering recent bearishness around commodity prices we consider this an amazing settlement for Xstrata,” Liberum Capital Ltd. said in a note to investors. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials has dropped 17 percent from this year’s high in April. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange has slumped 28 percent from a record as economic growth in China, the world’s biggest user of industrial metals, slows. Mined copper output declined to...