During the week ending January 17, import coking coal quotations in China have moved up as customers have been interested in purchases ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday against the backdrop of some resumption of customs clearance, while metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have remained stable.
Quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia are at $162/mt CFR China, rising by $5/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $140/mt CFR on January 17, up $2/mt week on week. Most Chinese buyers will leave the market by the end of this week due to the approach of the Chinese New Year holiday, which will result in a slackening of demand for coking coal.
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, the finished steel market has been quiet as most market players have been preparing to leave the market. The coke market will move sideways in the coming week.
Coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have declined by RMB 7/mt ($1.0/mt) or 0.4 percent as of Friday, January 17, compared to January 10.
$1 = RMB 6.888