probably a lot of 'get out while the going is good' sentiment...

probably a lot of 'get out while the going is good' sentiment around...
annoying, but i guess its just prudent profit taking...

BHP warns soaring coal prices ‘not sustainable’


Coking coal prices have cleared $US300 a tonne for the first time since 2011 and left prices for Australian producers at a seven-year high, strengthening expectations that the nation’s trade deficit could disappear in coming months and that GDP growth could lift to 5 per cent.
But BHP Billiton, whose Queensland mines make it the world’s biggest coking coal exporter, continues to warn that the price increases are unsustainable and that things can fall as quickly as they rise.
On Tuesday night, coking coal spot prices continued their astonishing rise, up $US17.90, or 6.2 per cent, to a five-year high of $US307.20 a tonne.
At $397 a tonne, the Australian dollar price for coking coal is the highest that prices have fetched since March 2009, when the 2008 annual contract price of $US300 a tonne ended and the Australian dollar was much lower than it is now.
This price rise, from $US92 a tonne at the start of June, has astonished industry participants and observers. UBS economist George Tharenou last week said it had the ability to make Australia’s trade deficit disappear in coming months and bring GDP growth to 5 per cent.
BHP’s Australian mining president and former coal boss, Mike Henry, said prices would not stay high.
“It’s not going to be sustainable in the long term,” Mr Henry said.
“At these sorts of prices, there is a lot of production that can be brought back to market, in the US, in Australia and in China. The only question is when you see it balancing downwards. Is that next month, in two months, is it in six months?”
And for this reason, the prices were not causing BHP to pump more coal out of its low-cost mines to capture the huge margins on offer.
“We’ll enjoy the high prices while they last, but it actually doesn’t have that much of an impact on the way we run things,” he said.
“Prices can fall quickly and we need to ensure the baseline on which we run the business is one for all seasons.”