During the week ending November 27, import quotations for non-Australia premium hard coking coal in China have edged further amid firm demand and still limited offer volumes. At the same time, prices from Australia have also moved up over the week owing to better demand in the international market.
Prices for coking coal from Canada for premium material have reached $168/mt CFR China, up by $6/mt from last week. Quotations for Russian hard coking coal have remained at $130/mt CFR, stable compared to last week.
At the same time, the price for Australian premium hard coking coal has been equivalent to $112/mt CFR China, up $4/mt compared to last week. This happened owing to better trading on FOB basis this week, with a number of deals at $102/mt FOB. Nominal prices for hard coking coal from Australia to China are at $98/mt CFR, up $1/mt compared to the previous week.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 2,150/mt ($327/mt) ex-warehouse, moving sideways compared to the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coking plants’ capacity utilization rates have risen slightly amid the resumption of production, which had been halted for environmental protection purposes, while the inventories of coke have decreased slightly. Meanwhile, traders have mostly been holding a wait-and-see stance as regards the future market prospects. Steelmakers have been seeking to conclude purchases of coke amid the improvement in profitability of finished steel, which will bolster coke prices. It is thought that coke prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge up in the coming week.
As of Friday, November 27, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 2,449.5/mt ($372.5/mt), decreasing by RMB 31/mt ($4.7/mt) or 1.25 percent compared to November 20.
$1 = RMB 6.5755