During the week ending March 12, import quotations for hard coking coal in China have moved down slightly and overall demand has been poor. The visible decrease in domestic coke prices in China has made mills more careful in raw material purchases.
Quotations of premium hard coking coal from Canada are at $219/mt CFR, down $1/mt from last week, while the hard coking coal price level from Russia has declined by $3/mt to $160/mt CFR compared to March 5.
Prices for hard coking coal from Australia have also been under pressure due to the lack of strength of demand from India. Premium hard coking coal prices from Australia are equivalent to $136/mt CFR China, down $5/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices correspond to $119/mt CFR, down $4/mt from the previous week.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 2,400/mt ($370/mt) ex-warehouse, moving down by RMB 200/mt ($31/mt) compared to March 5, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coke prices have edged down further amid the production curbs in Tangshan and increasing inventory levels of coke. The capacity utilization of steelmakers’ blast furnaces has decreased, slackening demand for coke. Meanwhile, local coking coal prices have moved down, also exerting a negative impact on coke prices.
As of Friday, March 12, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 2,244/mt ($346/mt), decreasing by RMB 98.5/mt ($15/mt) or 4.2 percent compared to March 5.
$1 = RMB 6.4845
