Active discussions around China's expected return to the Australian coking coal market have continued to weigh on sentiments in the segment. Aiming to take every advantage from recent developments, both global traders and Australian coking coal producers have continued to report information in line to their interests. In particular, information that major Chinese steelmaker Baowu Steel Group Corp had reportedly signed a contract for ex-Australia metallurgical coal has failed to find confirmation. “Shenhua was heard to have bought two cargoes for shipment in the second half of January from Glencore, all thermal. For met coal, there is no confirmation yet,” a major Singapore-based trader stated. “It [any ex-Australia met coal deals to China] cannot be confirmed anywhere. I suspect it is fake news released by traders with short positions at the DCE [Dalian Commodity Exchange],” another trader in Singapore said, echoing the same sentiments.
Meanwhile, following a deal at $316.33/mt FOB for premium mid-volatility hard coking coal, done last week, ex-Australia coking coal trading appears to have cooled down to some extent.
In the meantime, today, January 9, coking coal futures prices for January contracts at Singapore Exchange (SGX) have declined by $1.67/mt to $313.33/mt levels, while for February contracts prices have decreased by $2.67/mt to $312.33/mt.