During the week ending September 4, import coking coal quotations in China have moved sideways amid Chinese customs’ strict restrictions on the clearance of goods. At the same time, demand from other countries like India is providing support for FOB prices of Australian coking coal, which have reached $110/mt FOB for premium grade material.
Quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia are at $118/mt CFR China, remaining stable compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $98/mt CFR, also remaining in line with the previous week.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 1,850/mt ($270.5/mt) ex-warehouse, remaining stable compared to the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coking plants’ capacity utilization rates decreased, while inventory increased slightly some coking plants held on to their stocks to wait for better prices. Demand for coke has been quite good, and so coking plants hold an optimistic view of the future prospects for the market. Rising finished steel prices have improved steelmakers’ profitability, which may make some of them accept a rise in coke prices in the near future.
As of Friday, September 4, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 2,030.5/mt ($297/mt), increasing by RMB 90.5/mt ($13.2/mt) or 4.7 percent compared to August 28.
$1 = RMB 6.8359
