Prices for ex-Australia premium hard coking coal (PHCC) have been under pressure after reaching their peak in a deal at $253.25/mt FOB a week ago. Supply concerns, which were serious in January, have started to ease and more offers have been seen in the market.
A bid for 75,000 mt of mid-volatile Goonyella PHCC has been placed at GlobalCoal at $248.5/mt FOB for early March laycan. At the same time, two offers for mid-volatile materials have been heard at $250-251/mt FOB. So, the daily reference price for ex-Australia PHCC has been corrected down to $249/mt FOB, down by $4.25/mt from last week. Market sources said that shipments from Australia have improved and major buyers have already covered their urgent needs. In addition, as of February 6, Peabody Energy has restarted longwall production at Centurion coking coal mine in Australia, which was out of operation for eight years. The mine’s production is expected to total 3.5 million mt of coking coal in 2026, while it will reach full capacity of 4.7 million mt per year by 2028.
Bids for low-volatile PHCC have been very low, at around $230/mt FOB, due to fewer customers looking for this material.
There has also been no support from the Chinese market, where the tradable level remain at around $210-215/mt CFR.
