Prices for ex-Australia premium hard coking coal (PHCC) have been under pressure from improved supply and weakening demand, especially in India, where some mills have even been eager to offer coking coal for re-export.
In particular, one cargo of 75,000 mt of mid-volatile Goonyella PHCC has been on offer at $231/mt FOB for August laycan. This is much lower than an official miner’s offer of low-volatile PHCC at $248/mt FOB. But market sources say that this lower price is attributable to a “re-export” offer from an Indian producer, who faced lower-than-expected demand, and that it reflects the real market conditions.
A few bids for PHCC have been heard at $225-227/mt FOB, signaling that customers want the market to fall and view the previous level at $240/mt FOB as being too high.
The previous support for Australian PHCC which came from China has also eased recently. And the tradable level for PHCC in the import market has fallen to $250-255/mt CFR at the highest, versus $265/mt CFR in sales in June.
