A tender for 72,000 mt of ex-Australia premium medium-volatile Goonyella coking coal, with a March 1-10 laycan, floated by ArcelorMittal Sourcing, has drawn the attention of all insiders in the global coking coal market, though it has ultimately yielded quite unexpected results. Specifically, given a the price downtrend in China, coupled with the appearance of certain positive movements in global supply, market participants supposed a decline in ex-Australia coking prices to be quite possible. In particular, with five players having joined the tender, the lowest bid has been reported at $298/mt FOB. Nevertheless, due to the availability of a much higher bid, the tender has been closed almost at an unchanged price compared to the previous transaction. In particular, 36,000 mt of material has been booked at $440/mt FOB Australia, while the rest of material is destined to be shipped at 100.25 percent of the Platts index. “Glencore really did a good job to keep the market price as it is,” a representative of a trading house in Japan stated. “Arcelor Mittal’s attempt to drop the price has certainly failed,” an official at a met coke plant in India stated.
As SteelOrbis has reported earlier, the ex-Australia coking coal price was at $442.5/mt FOB in the latest deal, for 20,000 mt, late last week.