During the week ending December 17, foreign coking coal suppliers have been forced to decrease their quotations further to entice Chinese buyers to import.
Specifically, import quotations of coking coal from Canada and Russia are currently at $340/mt and $240/mt CFR, down $4/mt and $30/mt compared to December 10, respectively.
Meanwhile, coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 2,560/mt ($402/mt) ex-warehouse, moving sideways compared to December 10, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coke prices in China have remained stable amid the rising capacity utilization rates. Coking plants have been active in production this week amid improved profitability, which is likely to exert a positive impact on the segment’s outlook in the coming week. However, steelmakers have been cautious in concluding coke purchases.
As of Friday, December 17, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 3,051/mt ($479.3/mt), rising by RMB 140/mt ($22/mt) or 4.8 percent compared to December 10.
$1 = RMB 6.365