During the week ending December 3, import quotations for premium hard coking coal and hard coking coal in China have edged down further. Weak demand from the Chinese steelmakers has continued to weigh on sentiments in the segment.
In particular, quotations of premium hard coking coal from Canada and lower quality coal from Russia have lost $33/mt and $10/mt over the past week, coming to $362/mt CFR and $300/mt CFR respectively.
Meanwhile, coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 2,560/mt ($402/mt) ex-warehouse, moving sideways compared to November 26, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coke prices in some regions of China have indicated declines, while in other areas they have remained stable amid slight rises in coking plants’ capacity utilization rates. Overall, the emerging signs of a recovery stemming from a rebound in futures prices are expected to bolster coke prices in the coming week.
As of Friday, December 3, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 2,847/mt ($447/mt) (the main contract of coke futures has shifted from j2201 to j2205), rising by RMB 253.5/mt ($40/mt) or 9.8 percent compared to November 26.
$1 = RMB 6.3738