With sentiments in the metallurgical coke segment in China mostly bullish, Russian suppliers of coking coal have succeeded in getting higher prices more easily than expected. Russian company Mechel has closed a fresh tender for 21,000 mt of K10 coking coal at $253.3/mt CFR China, compared to $249/mt CFR China in the previous tender a week ago. “It is actually higher than we could anticipate,” a market source stated. Last week, ex-Russia Deni Deep coking coal offers to China were heard at $238/mt CFR, with no takers. Meanwhile, given recent developments, the supplier may target higher levels.
In the meantime, ex-US coking coal offers have remained out of the range of interest of Chinese customers due to the distant laycan and unattractive levels compared to those for coking coal from Russia. The indicative levels for ex-US low volatility Blue Creek No. 7 and Oak Grove have settled at $290-300/mt CFR, with no deals heard so far.
In the domestic market, premium low-volatility hard coking coal is available at RMB 2,550/mt ex-warehouse Jintang, while low-volatility hard coking coal is around RMB 350/mt cheaper. Prices are including VAT.
In the meantime, local Chinese coke plants have continued to insist on higher prices. Specifically, this week coke plants in Hebei and Shandong have been seeking to raise prices by RMB 100-110/mt ($14-15/mt). However, some traders have become quite sceptical as regard any success. “The market improved slightly last week as China cut quarantine periods, but with lockdowns having become strict again, sentiments worsened,” a Chinese coke exporter stated.
Meanwhile, according to some sources, ex-China metallurgical coke (CSR 65/63%) offers in India have declined to $390-395/mt CFR compared to $400-410/mt CFR a week ago. However, other market players continue to claim that it is still impossible to find ex-China coke of good quality below $390/mt FOB.
Meanwhile, in the futures market the uptrend has continued. Today, November 24, coking coal prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have increased by 0.96 percent as compared to yesterday, to RMB 2,157.5/mt ($303/mt), while coke futures prices have settled at RMB 2,757.5/mt ($387/mt), up 1.2 percent from yesterday.
$1 = RMB 7.1290