Force majeure declarations at US export terminals in Hampton Roads on the US East coast due to severe winter weather conditions are helping US metallurgical coal prices trend up, especially, grade A. The three ports in the Hampton region manage coal exports including metallurgical coal shipments from a variety of companies including Contura Energy and Arch Coal. While the terminals continue operating, the force majeure declaration was due to a lower than average management of rail cars and loading of vessels. The severe weather conditions are also reportedly affecting logistics from sites of origin.
Sources inform SteelOrbis that US high-volume grade A hard coking coal is reportedly at $230/mt FOB US East Coast (USEC). The price is estimated to have increased $20/mt over the past week. US low-volume hard coking coal is at $205-207/mt FOB USEC while the US high-volume grade B coking coal is at $155-157/mt FOB USEC. The latter grades have reportedly only increased $2-5/mt over the past week.