During the week ending January 10, import coking coal quotations in China have moved up as customers have been interested in purchases before the Chinese New Year holiday, while metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have mostly moved sideways.
In the given period, quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia have been at $157/mt CFR China, rising by $7/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $138/mt CFR on January 10, up $3/mt week on week. Starting from late next week, Chinese buyers will start to leave the market due to the approaching Chinese New Year holiday, while more inquiries for import coking coal started to come and bids have improved.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 1,900/mt ($274.0/mt) ex-warehouse, remaining stable compared to the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data. During the given week, coking plants’ capacity utilization rates have been negatively affected by environmental protection measures. Meanwhile, steelmakers’ demand for coke has been at decent level as they need to replenish stocks ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday. However, as the holiday draws closer, demand will slacken. Coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have risen by RMB 15/mt ($2.2/mt) or 0.8 percent as of Friday, January 10, compared to January 3.
$1 = RMB 6.935
