During the week ending April 3, import coking coal quotations in China have moved down sharply due to oversupply, following the demand drop worldwide due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Indian mills have totally halted bookings and have cut steel capacity utilization rates significantly, while coking coal sales to Europe have also been disrupted.
In the given period, quotations of premium hard coking coal from Australia have been at $146.5/mt CFR China, decreasing by $19/mt compared to last week. A deal for medium-volatile premium coal was done at $140/mt CFR in the middle of the week. Hard coking coal prices are at $133.5/mt CFR on April 3, down by $16/mt week on week.
Coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 1,650/mt ($231.1/mt) ex-warehouse, moving down again by $50/mt ($7.0/mt) compared to the previous week, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
During the given week, inventory of coke at coking plants decreased slightly, while on the steelmakers’ side coke inventories increased significantly, exerting a negative impact on coke prices. Chinese steelmakers have been seeking to push down buying prices for coke due to their high inventories of finished steel and their tight liquidity. Meanwhile, coking coal prices have continued to decline, also weakening the support for coke prices.
Coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are standing at RMB 1,617.5/mt ($227.5/mt) as of Friday, April 3, declining by RMB 182.5/mt ($25.7/mt) or 10.1 percent compared to March 27.
$1 = RMB 7.11
