This result, which is well up from Newcastle spot prices of around $55.6/t, is considered the lowest since 2007.

Glencore’s efforts to pursue a price of $70/t or higher were undermined by Glencore’s potential takeover prey, Rio.

“Rio’s early settlement negatively impacted Glencore’s efforts to get a better price,” London-based commodities analyst Stefan Ljubisavljevic told Bloomberg.

“Once you’ve got a price out there that’s been agreed to by one producer it’s obviously difficult for another producer to get a better one.”

A Tohuku spokesman said the company’s talks with major coal suppliers for Japanese financial year contracts had ended.

Institute of Energy Economics coal researcher Atsuo Sagawa told the newswire that Japanese utilities were likely to use the $67.8/t price for their annual supply deals.