Prices for premium hard coking coal (PHCC) from Australia have continued to slip significantly this week and sellers have already dropped offers close to $250/mt FOB, as desired by buyers since late last week. But new bids are already lower and, since supply is high, it is possible that new deals will go below this level.
An offer for 75,000 mt of ex-Australia mid-volatile PHCC stands at $252/mt FOB for April laycan in the middle of this week at GlobalCoal. Moreover, traders have said that the direct negotiations will miners are already at $245-250/mt FOB on Thursday. A few bids have been reported at as low as $220-230/mt FOB. The main reason for the continuing decline in the coking coal segment has been “ample supply and no revival in demand,” as seen in some other raw material segments. At the moment, only a few steel mills are in the market for purchases with the next tender from India expected to make the market picture clearer in the coming few days.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Australia PHCC has come to $248/mt FOB, down by $13.5/mt from yesterday and down $22.9/mt over the past week.
