Ex-Australia premium hard coking coal (PHCC) prices have been fluctuating in the narrow range this week with a few deals still signed at above $230/mt FOB, while the end users' bids were reported still at slightly below this level.
On July 13, one of the major miners from Australia concluded a deal for 35,000 mt of premium mid-volatile Goonyella hard coking coal at $234.6/mt FOB for August 15-24 laycan, while the material could be replaced by other brands like Goonyella C, Riverside or Caval Ridge at $233.1/mt FOB. “These deals at $233-234/mt FOB are done to traders, end users are bidding still lower and I see the real market level at still below $230/mt FOB,” a trader commented.
A deal for low-volatile PHCC from Australia has been rumored at $229/mt FOB on Friday, probably to China, market sources believe, but this could not be confirmed by the time of publication. At the moment, taking into account lower demand from China and ample supply, prices for low-volatile PHCC could be even lower than mid-volatile, some market sources believe. The SteelOrbis daily reference price for ex-Australia PHCC has remained stable at $229/mt FOB.
At the same time, Chinese customers have been still interested in buying cheaper Russian coking coal. A deal for premium Denni Deep material has been signed at $173/mt CFR, up from $160-170/mt CFR over the past two weeks, while offers for Inagli coal have been at $160/mt CFR with bids lagging behind at $155/mt CFR.
Ex-Russia PCI have been traded at $148.5/mt CFR to a trader in China early in the week, slightly down than $150/mt CFR seen last week, but a few end users have been interested in purchases at $150-152/mt CFR China.