VINACHEM

 The price of key commodities including coal and oil continued to surge on Thursday as the war in Ukraine caused increasing disruption and energy users hunted for alternatives to supplies from Russia.

Thermal coal, as measured by the benchmark Newcastle coal price, sits at a record high, having more than doubled since before the assault on Ukraine and risen 46% in a single day on Wednesday.

Coal prices typically fall as winter ends in Asia, but traders said buyers were scrambling to replace natural gas from Russia, reversing the trend for Asia's coal import volumes which had fallen in February.

Russia is also one of the world's biggest producers of coal and accounts for 15% of exports globally. It is the No. 2 coal supplier to China, Japan and South Korea, who analysts said may now increasingly turn to Australia, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia to avoid transacting with Russia.

Oil was up a further 3% in Thursday morning trading in Asia, with WTI crude crossing $114 a barrel for the first time since 2011. That extended a climb from Wednesday, when ExxonMobil announced it would exit projects in Russia including Sakhalin-1, which analysts said could slow -- but not halt -- production at the oil and gas field.

Markets were unmoved by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision on Wednesday to continue gradually raising its oil production quota by 400,000 barrels per day in April, despite pressure for a bigger hike in response to concerns over Russian supply.

"Whilst we agree with OPEC+ that a large part of the recent oil price increase is due to a higher risk premium, we also think that the fundamentals have changed," said Edward Gardner at Capital Economics. "In all probability, Russia's exports will fall, at least in the short term."

Wheat stood at $10.84 per bushel on Thursday morning, a 10-year high. Ukraine and Russia produce about a quarter of the global wheat supply.  - Nikkei -