During the week ending October 29, import prices of coking coal in China have slightly edged down, with the trend being expected to maintain within the coming weeks on the back of anticipated decrease in supply tightness. Specifically, this week the Chinese port authorities have notified Chinese mills and trading firms that the Australian coal that was discharged at Chinese ports before an informal ban was adopted in October 2020 is about to be cleared in the nearest future. The stranded material, which is assessed to be at least 4 million mt, could ease the supply tightness to some extent, with the prices consequently softening.
On balance, quotations of coking coal from Canada and Russia are at $608/mt and $435/mt CFR, down $2/mt and moving sideways compared to that recorded on October 22, respectively.
Meanwhile, coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 4,160/mt ($644/mt) ex-warehouse, remaining unchanged compared to that recorded on October 22, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have remained stable amid the slightly rising capacity utilization rates at coking plants. Inventory levels of coke have been relatively low, bolstering the prices. However, the continued production restrictions in Tangshan exerted a negative impact on the demand for coke.
In the Chinese futures market, the prices have continued to sink on the heels of the state’s intervention in the developments in the coal market. In particular, as of Friday, October 29, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have reached RMB 2,978/mt ($466/mt), decreasing by RMB 586/mt ($91.7/mt) or 16.4 percent compared to October 22. Meanwhile, the most-traded January coking coal futures contract on the DCE was closed at RMB 2,503/mt ($392/mt) on Thursday, down RMB200.5/mt ($31.4/mt) over the given period. Besides all, DCE has set trading limitations, aiming to cool down futures trade for coking coal and metallurgical coke, with the greatest fall in contracts per day as a consequence.
$1 = RMB 6.3907