Prices for ex-Australia premium hard coking coal (PHCC) have rebounded in line with expectations amid resumed interest from India.
A deal for 40,000 mt of mid-volatile Goonyella PHCC was done at $330/mt FOB for January 21-30 laycan. In addition, a bid for similar material was at $329/mt FOB at GlobalCoal this week. The previous reference price was at $323/mt FOB and a deal before the New Year was done at $320.5/mt FOB to Japan. One trading source said that Indian mills will have to buy import coking coal after some pause and that the current price level seems “reasonable”, though Australian miners will try to achieve higher prices at $340/mt FOB at least.
The tradable level for PHCC in China has inched down by $2.5/mt on average to $330/mt CFR mainly due to the imposition of the import tax of three percent from this year. Deals for ex-Russian PCI have been at $149-153/mt CFRi versus $160/mt CFR in offers in late December.
