During the week ending March 20, import coking coal quotations in China have edged up for premium hard coking coal due to reduced inventories of coking coal amid fewer shipments.
In the given period, quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia have been at $174/mt CFR China, increasing by $3/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $154.5/mt CFR on March 20, moving sideways week on week.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 1,700/mt ($239.3/mt) ex-warehouse, down by RMB 50/mt ($7.0/mt) compared to the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given, coking plants’ capacity utilization rates have continued to increase, resulting in slight increases in their coke inventory levels. However, steelmakers have been unwilling to conclude purchases of coke due to high inventories and tight liquidity.
Coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 1,786/mt ($268.4/mt) as of Friday, March 20, declining by RMB 93/mt ($13.1/mt) or 4.95 percent compared to March 13.
$1 = RMB 7.1052