Thermal Coal to Beat Oil, Gas After Japan Quake: Energy Markets

Thermal coal may outpace oil and gas this year, rising more than 30 percent to a record, as demand from China and India accelerates and Japan boosts imports to make up for nuclear power lost after the March earthquake.

Prices at the Australian port of Newcastle, a benchmark for Asia, may average $130 a metric ton in 2011, the median forecast of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg shows. That compares with $99 a ton last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and IHS McCloskey, a Petersfield, England-based researcher. New York crude futures are forecast to rise 26 percent next year, while U.S. natural gas will be unchanged.