During the week ending December 6, import coking coal quotations in China have seen increases, while metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have also edged up in some cities.
In the given period, quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia have been at $151/mt CFR China, up $2/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $135/mt CFR on December 6, also up by $2/mt week on week.
The coke price in Tangshan is at RMB 1,800/mt ($256/mt) ex-warehouse, remaining stable compared to the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data. However, the price in Hancheng has added RMB 50/mt ($7/mt) to RMB 1,650/mt ($234/mt) ex-warehouse.
In the given week, some cities in China’s Hebei Province have been required to implement level II anti-smog measures for three days from 12:00 on December 7 to 12:00 on December 10 due to the expected increase in smog from December 7, which has exerted a negative impact on sentiment in coke market. However, steelmakers’ profitability has been at comparatively decent levels, providing support for coke prices, though this situation will unlikely continue for a long term, which will limit the rising momentum of coke prices. It is thought that coke prices in the Chinese domestic market will move sideways in the coming week.
Coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) rose by RMB 24/mt ($3.4/mt) on Friday, December 6, compared to November 29.
$1 = RMB 7.038