Prices for ex-Australia premium hard coking coal (PHCC) have increased in recent deals, but in general the outlook is mixed as most end-users are bidding at lower levels and coke prices in China may keep going down.
An Australian miner sold 40,000 mt of low-volatile Peak Downs PHCC at $207.1/mt FOB for December laycan. The cargo is said to be for the Chinese market. In addition, another cargo of 30,000 mt of mid-volatile Illawarra PHCC changed hands at $210/mt FOB. The second deal price has been assessed by market sources as being too high. Also, up to 90,000 mt of mid-volatile PHCC were traded during the week for the Indian market, but prices were index-based, “which is more safe now”, as a market source said.
After a number of deals, overall supply pressure has eased, so market sources believe that suppliers will manage to hold prices stable, but further rises are doubtful.
In China’s import market, the tradable level is at $215/mt CFR, slightly higher than bids at $210/mt CFR last week. But the expectations for the next week are mixed.
In India’s import market, buyers have been asking for $205/mt CFR, but, with some mills starting to voice the intention to increase base steel prices for November, mills may accept some higher prices for coking coal.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Australia PHCC has settled at $208/mt FOB, up by $3/mt from the previous trade levels.
