During the week ending February 14, import coking coal quotations in China have moved up due to tight supply amid transportation restraints due to the coronavirus.
Quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia are now at $165.5/mt CFR China, rising by $3.5/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $149/mt CFR on February 14, up $9/mt week on week. Due to the disruption of transportation caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus, import coking coal has been in short supply, providing support for prices. However, Chinese domestic coal mines have gradually resumed production, which will result in reduced demand for import coking coal in the near future.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 1,900/mt ($272.0/mt) ex-warehouse, remaining stable compared to last week, according to SteelOrbis’ data. During the given week, demand for finished steel in China has been slack, while coke deliveries have been negatively affected.
Coke and coking coal futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have risen by 3.9 percent and 5.2 percent today compared to February 7.
$1 = RMB 6.984