Contract prices of steelmaking ingredient coking coal will slide below $240 per metric ton between now through the fourth quarter of 2012 as nations continue to ride to a continuing global economic slowdown that will in turn ease demand for the metallurgical raw commodity, energy forecaster Wood Mackenzie said in a report Wednesday

"Prices have started to fall from the last quarter and will continue to decline due to softening demand and the recovery of supply from flood-hit basins earlier in the year," Prakash Sharma, coal market analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said.

"Leading industrial indicators suggest a sharp deterioration in manufacturing activity - reflected by the decline in global steel production."

Analysts said the ongoing flood problems in Queensland state in Australia, workers ' threats at mines operated by the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance, and mine merger behaviors in the U.S. would likely put a floor under prices.

Prices remained at $285 a ton for the current quarter, 10 per cent lower than the previous three months.

"Demand growth will be led by emerging markets, with Asia accounting for 75% of global metallurgical coal demand by 2030," Sharma said.

"China and India will be key demand drivers, contributing to 60 per cent of Asia Pacific's total import demand."