Before starting the Lunar New Year holiday, Chinese buyers have been actively restocking their inventories of metallurgical coal. Specifically, by the end of this week SteelOrbis has heard of results of a fresh tender, held by Russian company Mechel. Accordingly, a 21,000 cargo of ex-Russia K10 coking coal has been reportedly sold in the range $250-260/mt CFR compared to $265/mt CFR, achieved by a supplier in the previous auction. In the meantime, a cargo of pulverised coal injection (PCI) of the same origin has been booked at $236/mt CFR, down $6.5/mt from the previous level. In the meantime, offers for ex-Russia anthracite (0-25 mm) have been heard mostly at $200/mt CFR, with offers from Russian company Sibanthracite being at $240/mt CFR China. According to market insiders, offers of some Russian mining companies have remained scarce due to congestion on railways. Besides, ex-Russia offers of anthracite to India have been heard at $245-250/mt CFR, while ex-Russia PCI is said to be available in India at $260/mt CFR.
«Hearing that China coke is softening, with the next cut in prices being expected after the holiday, I am surprised by the bullish prices for coal in China [compared to ex-Australia premium hard coking coal],» a representative of an Indian steel mill commented.
In the meantime, during the week ending January 20, local coke prices in China have moved sideways week on week.
First-grade coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 2,840/mt ($419.5/mt) ex-warehouse, moving sideways compared to January 13, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
Prices of coke in local markets in China
Product Name |
Specification |
Place of Origin |
Price（RMB/mt） |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly Change（RMB/mt） |
Weekly Change（$/mt） |
Coke |
First grade （A<13.0,S<0.75,CSR>65.0） |
Hancheng,Shaanxi |
2,830 |
418.0 |
0.0 |
-2.5 |
Zibo ,Shandong |
2,970 |
438.7 |
0.0 |
-2.7 |
||
Pingdingshan,Henan |
2,740 |
404.7 |
0.0 |
-2.5 |
||
Tangshan |
2,820 |
416.5 |
0.0 |
-2.5 |
||
Huaibei,Anhui |
2,840 |
419.5 |
0.0 |
-2.6 |
||
Average |
2,840 |
419.5 |
0.0 |
-2.6 |
including 13 percent VAT
Meanwhile, as of Friday, January 20, coal futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have settled at RMB 1,871/mt ($276/mt), down 0.9 percent week on week, while coke futures prices are at RMB 2,889/mt ($427/mt), increasing by RMB 49/mt ($7.2/mt) or 1.73 percent compared to January 13.
$1 = RMB 6.7702