TOKYO (Reuters) - Glencore Plc <GLEN.L> and Tohoku Electric Power Co <9506.T> have settled an Australian thermal coal import contract for October 2017-September 2018 at $94.75 a tonne, the same price as the term contract that ended last month, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The price set for the year starting this month represents an 11.5 percent increase from the April-March contract. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
The price of benchmark prices for thermal coal at Australia's Newcastle terminal rose 45 percent from the closing low of $71.30 a tonne on May 16 to a peak of $103.50 on Sept. 12, providing a bonanza for miners in Australia and Indonesia, the two largest exporters of thermal coal used in power stations.
Glencore is the world's biggest supplier of sea-traded thermal coal and usually sets pricing for the sector. Thermal coal is used to generate electricity.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Aaron Sheldrick in TOKYO and James Regan in SYDNEY; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Kenneth Maxwell)
