Although this week coking coal trading has slowed down to some extent, ex-Australia coking coal prices have remained at elevated levels. The expected delays in shipments due to heavy rains in Australia over the past week have provided crucial support to coking coal prices. According to sources, lately the vessel queues have reached 52 ships outside Australian ports compared to the average of 24 during the past year.
Lately, global customers have been seeking to get ex-Australia premium low-volatility hard coking coal at $340/mt FOB, though with no fresh deals heard so far. The latest transaction was done last week for 40,000 mt of mid-volatility hard coking coal, Goonyella, at $329.5/mt FOB Australia, with February 5-14 laycan, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.
Meanwhile, at Singapore Exchange (SGX) coking coal futures have bounced back following a sharp increase on Monday. Accordingly, on January 26, coking coal futures for February contracts have edged down by $1/mt from yesterday to $333.33/mt, while on Monday prices had reached $336/mt. In the meantime, coking coal futures for March contracts have declined by $1.34/mt from yesterday to $327.33/mt ($329.33/mt on Monday).