During the week ending July 17, import premium hard coking coal quotations in China have moved down amid slack demand and decreasing transaction activities in the international market.
Quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia are at $119/mt CFR China, decreasing by $8.5/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $100/mt CFR, moving down by $5/mt week on week. Trading activity has been weak because there are restrictions at major Chinese ports. The Chinese government has set the quota for coking coal imports at the same level as last year and, taking into account the surge of shipments early this year, for now restrictions are playing the main role in China’s import coking coal market.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 1,850/mt ($264.3/mt) ex-warehouse, moving down by RMB 50/mt ($7.1/mt) compared to the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coking plants’ output in eastern China has increased, while in northwestern China output has decreased amid production halts, resulting in an overall stable national output compared to previous week. Traders have lowered their offer prices for coke while they maintain a wait-and-see stance. Demand for coke from downstream steelmakers has been slack, which will likely exert a negative impact on coke prices in the near future.
As of Friday, July 17, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 1,943/mt ($277.6/mt), increasing by RMB 68/mt ($9.7/mt) or 3.6 percent compared to July 10.
$1 = RMB 7.0043