During the week ending March 27, import coking coal quotations in China have edged down for import coking coal due to the strict clearance policy at ports, including the cancellation of customs clearance in different locations, resulting in the reluctance of buyers to conclude purchases of coking coal.
Quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia are currently at $165.5/mt CFR China, decreasing by $8.5/mt compared to last week. Hard coking coal prices are at $149.5/mt CFR on March 27, down by $5/mt week on week.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 1,700/mt ($239.3/mt) ex-warehouse, moving sideways compared to the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, coke inventories of coking plants and steelmakers have decreased, supporting coke prices, while market players are cautious as regards the market prospects as steelmakers are under strong pressures from tightness of funds and relatively high inventories of finished steel. Meanwhile, coal prices will likely edge down in the near future, which will weaken the support for coke prices.
Coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 1,800/mt ($255.6/mt) as of Friday, March 27, down RMB 79/mt ($11.2/mt) or 4.2 percent from March 20.
$1 = RMB 7.0427