Sentiments in the Australian coking coal market have remained bearish even though today, April 26, one higher-priced deal has been signed. Most offers for basic brands have been at stable to lower levels even compared to the previous day. Moreover, demand has not improved much, with China voicing much lower bids and India staying away.
A deal for 30,000 mt of low-sulfur higher grade premium hard coking coal SRC has been done by a major miner at $253.5/mt FOB for June 1-10 laycan. However, according to market information, this contract could not be assessed as being a reference for the benchmark price as there are still a number of lower-priced offers for brands of basic quality, which usually reflect the real market price.
In particular, an offer for 75,000 mt of mid-volatile branded premium hard coking coal from Australia has been at $243/mt FOB for May laycan, while a day ago the same branded material was offered at $247/mt FOB.
Moreover, bids from China have continued to drop continuously. They have been voiced at $235/mt CFR and below lately, translating to slightly above $220/mt FOB. “Prices will target $200-220/mt FOB as China is very bearish and the Indians seem to be very well able to wait,” a Singapore-based trader said.
May hard coking coal futures at Singapore Exchange have lost $4.66/mt or 1.85 percent from yesterday, coming to $245.67/mt FOB.
The SteelOrbis daily reference price for premium hard coking coal from Australia has settled at $243.5/mt FOB, down by $5/mt from yesterday.