During the week ending March 5, import quotations in China have moved down as demand for imported raw material has been poor and most customers prefer to source local coal. At the same time, domestic coke prices in China have also declined, putting pressure on bids for import coal.
Quotations of premium hard coking coal from Canada are at $220/mt CFR, down by $2/mt compared to last week, but rare bids are at least $5/mt lower. The price level for lower quality coking coal from Russia is $163/mt CFR, down $27/mt compared to February 26.
Export prices for premium hard coking coal from Australia are equivalent to $141/mt CFR China, down $4/mt from last week. Ex-Australia hard coking coal prices translate to $123/mt CFR, also down $4/mt since last week.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 2,600/mt ($401/mt) ex-warehouse, moving down by RMB 100/mt ($15.4/mt) compared to February 26, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coke prices have moved down further amid the increasing inventory on the steelmakers’ side. Meanwhile, local coal prices have also edged down. However, following two rounds of declines, coke prices may gain support in the near future, according to sources.
As of Friday, March 5, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 2,342.5/mt ($361/mt), decreasing by RMB 189/mt ($29/mt) or 7.47 percent compared to February 26.
$1 = RMB 6.4904
