Energy coal prices at Australia’s Newcastle port, the world’s biggest export harbor for the fuel, rose to a record on supply bottlenecks and growing demand, adding to expectations of higher Asian contract prices next year.

Coal for delivery from Newcastle within the next three months gained $1.43 to $83.51 a metric ton in the week ended Nov. 9, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index. It is the fourth new high in five weeks for the Asian benchmark, calculated each Friday.

China, the fastest-growing major economy, became a net importer of coal for the first time this year, tightening the balance between Asian supply and demand. Output is struggling to meet rising consumption because of transport constraints in producer countries including Australia and South Africa.

“The port bottlenecks in Australia are a big factor; we don’t seem to get quite the supply side sorted out,” said Clyde Henderson, a Sydney-based coal analyst at Barlow Jonker Pty., a unit of Edinburgh-based Wood Mackenzie Consultants Ltd. “The other big factor is the ongoing turnaround in China’s net thermal coal exports. It’s obviously quite good news for producers and exporters.”

Coal mining companies in Australia’s Hunter Valley shipped 7.4 million tons of coal through Newcastle in October, less than the targeted 7.9 million tons, because of maintenance work and cargo loading constraints, the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Logistics Team said on its Web site. Xstrata Plc, Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. are among producers that ship coal through Newcastle.

Contract Negotiations

Some 7.3 million tons are targeted for shipment through the New South Wales port this month.

The globalCOAL monthly index reached a record $75.19 in October. The gains in the indexes are boosting expectations that power-station coal contract prices for the Japanese fiscal year starting April 1 will reach another record.

Japanese power generators may accept a 22 percent increase in the contract price of coal in the year starting April 1 amid the supply constraints, Citigroup Inc. said in an Oct. 26 e- mailed note. The bank forecast prices will be set at $67 a ton, up from $55 this year. Sydney-based AME Mineral Economics is more bullish, forecasting at least $70 a ton.

“Everyone is expecting contract prices to go up quite steeply next year,” Barlow Jonker’s Henderson said.