-- Thermal coal prices at Australia's Newcastle port, a benchmark for Asia, rose to a record for a fourth week amid rising demand for the fuel in China.

The index for power-station coal prices at the New South Wales port rose $2.43, or 1.5 percent, to $162.66 a metric ton in the week ended June 22, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index. The index has traded between $151.70 and $162.66 since May 30.

Bottlenecks at Newcastle, together with flooding in Queensland state to the north and rising demand helped drive prices for power-station coal to a record. Spot prices are trading above the $125 a ton achieved by producers including Xstrata Plc in annual contract negotiations for the year that started April 1 as demand increases from Asia.

``With the economy booming as it is, we believe that Chinese coal demand growth is faster than Chinese production growth, resulting in a tight coal market and constantly rising prices,'' Macquarie Group Ltd. analysts led by Jim Lennon said in a report today.

Xstrata, the world's largest exporter of power-station coal, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group are among mining companies that ship coal through Newcastle.

The weekly globalCOAL index is up 81 percent so far this year. The monthly index gained 9.4 percent to $138.31 in May, from $126.45 the previous month.