Historical crude oil prices

From http://inflationdata.com/inflation/inflation_Rate/Historical_Oil_Prices_Table.asp

Prices are based on historical free market (stripper) prices of Illinois Crude as presented by IOGA . Price controlled prices were lower during the 1970's but resulted in artificially created gas lines and shortages and do not reflect the true free market price.

Annual Average Domestic Crude Oil Prices
1949-Present
	U.S. Average
	(in $/bbl.)
Year	Nominal	Inflation Adjusted 2007
1946	$1.63	$17.66
1947	$2.16	$20.75
1948	$2.77	$24.76
1949	$2.77	$24.99
1950	$2.77	$24.74
1951	$2.77	$22.93
1952	$2.77	$22.41
1953	$2.92	$23.40
1954	$2.99	$23.92
1955	$2.93	$23.47
1956	$2.94	$23.25
1957	$3.14	$24.00
1958	$3.00	$22.33
1959	$3.00	$22.11
1960	$2.91	$21.16
1961	$2.85	$20.48
1962	$2.85	$20.24
1963	$2.91	$20.43
1964	$3.00	$20.78
1965	$3.01	$20.51
1966	$3.10	$20.52
1967	$3.12	$20.10
1968	$3.18	$19.61
1969	$3.32	$19.45
1970	$3.39	$18.77
1971	$3.60	$19.10
1972	$3.60	$20.48
1973	$4.75	$22.80
1974	$9.35	$40.67
1975	$12.21	$48.71
1976	$13.10	$49.46
1977	$14.40	$51.02
1978	$14.95	$49.27
1979	$25.10	$73.60
1980	$37.42	$97.68
1981	$35.75	$84.58
1982	$31.83	$70.91
1983	$29.08	$62.74
1984	$28.75	$59.47
1985	$26.92	$53.76
1986	$14.44	$28.29
1987	$17.75	$33.56
1988	$14.87	$27.05
1989	$18.33	$31.75
1990	$23.19	$38.02
1991	$20.20	$31.86
1992	$19.25	$29.47
1993	$16.75	$24.92
1994	$15.66	$22.69
1995	$16.75	$23.62
1996	$20.46	$28.01
1997	$18.64	$24.95
1998	$11.91	$15.70
1999	$16.56	$21.30
2000	$27.39	$34.16
2001	$23.00	$27.92
2002	$22.81	$27.22
2003	$27.69	$32.34
2004	$37.66	$42.80
2005	$50.04	$54.99
2006	$58.30	$62.11
2007	$64.20	$66.40
2008 Partial	$97.98	$98.66

Monthly Average Domestic Crude Oil Prices
2008
	U.S. Average
	(in $/bbl.)
Month	Nominal	Inflation Adjusted 2007
Jan-08	$84.70	$86.20
Feb-08	$86.64	$87.92
Mar-08	$96.87	$97.46
Apr-08	$104.31	$104.31
May-08	$117.40	$117.40

Coal prices to triple

Following is an excerpt from a report in Reuters.

Merrill Lynch has raised its forecasts for contract prices of coal for power plants and steel mills in 2008, predicting that prices will jump by as much as 200 percent, after recent supply disruptions resulted in a severe global shortage.

Contract prices for coking coal, used to make steel, are expected to reach a record high of $300 a tonne, a three-fold rise from an agreed price of $98 last year, amid a "supply apocalypse" following recent weather-related supply disruptions in Australia, Merrill Lynch said in a research note on Friday.

The site http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/cokeforind.html gives the coking coal prices in previous years in various countries.

Sponge iron at rock bottom

Business Standard, May 27, 2008
Dilip Kumar Jha / Mumbai May 27, 2008, 3:03 IST

Despite buyers' apprehension on placing fresh orders ahead of the monsoon season, prices of sponge iron, an important raw material for steel manufacturing, is unlikely to decline from its current levels.

Sponge iron or direct reduced iron, being quoted at Rs 18,000 per tonne, have seen around 14 per cent fall in the last one month because of subdued raw material prices and market switching to need-based buying instead of creating inventory.

"An independent sponge iron producer cannot afford selling below current levels," said Amitabh Mudgal, general manager (marketing), Monnet Ispat, one of the largest sponge iron suppliers to steel producers.

At least, 1.5-2 tonnes each of iron ore and coal is required to produce one tonne of good quality sponge iron. Although, the price of iron ore has declined by 10-12 per cent in the last one month, price of coking coal is continuously moving upwards.

Iron ore fines are quoted in the range of $90-100 per tonne. Coking coal has perked up to $300 from $130 a tonne in the last three-four months, while coke has doubled to $600 a tonne since the beginning of the year.

At a minimum margin of 10-15 per cent, the current level is the cut-off price for an independent producer. Therefore, there is hardly any room for sponge iron prices to fall further, said Mudgal.

Sponge iron producers operate with a margin of 13-18 per cent, depending upon the cost of iron ore and coal supplies.

On monday, buyers book only to meet daily needs anticipating the price to decline. Those who are waiting fresh bottom level would be trapped, he added.

Placing multiple orders for future consumption is a common phenomenon for the sponge iron industry. But, because of a price decline in recent past, traders are abstaining from multiple orders. Therefore, the pipeline inventory has been disrupted abnormally.

India produces about 50 million tonnes of steel annually, while consumption stays around 51 million tonnes. He said domestic buyers remained untouched despite contracted value of iron ore between Indian exporters and Chinese importers going down from $175-180 a tonne last November to $140-145 now.

Chinese traders slowed down orders when prices start moving up. As a consequence, the pressure of stock clearance forced exporters to bring down prices. "Hence, the Chinese contracted price cannot be a correct indicator for real market sentiment," said Mudgal.

India produced 16.28 million tonnes of sponge iron in 2006-07, of which, 5.26 million tonnes was contributed by gas-based variety and 11.01 million tonnes by coal-based one