During the week ending October 16, import coking coal quotations in China have moved down sharply amid the verbal ban on Australian coal in China and not very strong demand in the global market.
Quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia are at $133/mt CFR China, down $11/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $118/mt CFR, down $5/mt compared to the previous week.
Chinese customs have also halted discharging and clearance of all Australian coal imports, and miners and traders have had to redirect offers to other markets like India and Southeast Asia.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 2,000/mt ($297/mt) ex-warehouse, moving up RMB 50/mt ($7.4/mt) from the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coking plants’ capacity utilization rates have been at a relatively high level amid good demand from downstream users. Meanwhile, inventory of coke has been at low levels, providing solid support for the market. The capacity utilization rates of blast furnaces in China are still at high levels, though lower than in the previous week. Safety inspections at coal mines in Shanxi Province have become stricter, which will likely reduce the supply of coal and bolster coal and coke prices.
As of Friday, October 16, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 2,102.5/mt ($312.4/mt), increasing by RMB 22/mt ($3.3/mt) or 1.06 percent compared to September 30.
$1 = RMB 6.7332