Though overall sentiments have remained positive in the Australian premium hard coking coal (PHCC) market this week amid strong fundamentals in India, the pace of the price increase has been much slower than last week and deals have been limited.
Offers from major Australian miners for mid-volatile PHCC started at $370-375/mt FOB early this week and “BHP intended to ask for $380/mt FOB [on Wednesday],” a Singapore-based trader said. This is higher than the last deal confirmed late last week at $360.25/mt FOB. However, on Thursday this week, an offer for 40,000 mt of mid-volatile PHCC was placed at $369/mt FOB, which has been assessed by most market players as being on the lower side. As of Friday, the market has been in wait-and-see mode as buyers have been waiting for lower offers now.
Nevertheless, not all market players believe that the uptrend in the Australian PHCC market is over. “Miners’ price ideas are still higher and India’s appetite is there. I don’t think the market will be much below $370/mt FOB in the near future,” a source said.
A deal for mid-volatile PHCC has been rumored at $370/mt FOB on Tuesday, but has not been confirmed by the end of the week. In addition, 75,000 mt of ex-Australia semi-soft Blackwater coking coal were sold at $197/mt FOB to an Indian end-user.
In China’s import coking coal market, trading has been limited. A deal for ex-Russia PCI was closed at $185/mt CFR this week, up by $12/mt compared to the pre-holiday level. The tradable level for PHCC has been assessed at $295-300/mt CFR, versus $290/mt CFR on late September.