Prices for ex-Australia coking coal have increased again this week amid a continued shortage of supply for January, and market sources believe that prices have reached a temporary ceiling for now. However, if demand remains strong, some additional increase could happen by the end of the month.
A deal for 75,000 mt of ex-Australia mid-volatile premium hard coking coal (PHCC) Goonyella has been done at $213-214/mt FOB for January laycan in the spot market, which is up by $3.6/mt from the previous transaction. This contract price was seen only in offers last week, meaning that traders agreed to sellers’ terms, expecting demand from India to persist. Early this week, another bid for Goonyella with the same laycan was placed at $213/mt FOB at GlobalCoal.
At the same time, bids for low-volatile Peak Downs or Saraji PHCC are still below $200/mt FOB. They were at $194-195/mt FOB since last week. This is due to weak demand in China, where this grade is preferable. In China, the tradable level for PHCC has stayed at $200-202/mt CFR at the highest, sources said.
