In tandem with the increases on coking coal in Australia as a result of the production and logistics difficulties caused by Cyclone Debbie, US coking coal prices have moved up rapidly since the middle of last week. On April 6, Australian premium hard coking coal was heard increasing over $47/mt in a single day to $236/mt FOB East coast Australian port. By the end of the week, Australian premium coking coal prices were heard increasing to $260/mt FOB EC.
Australian premium hard coking coal offers in Europe were heard rapidly increasing to $290-300/mt CFR Rotterdam for second quarter shipments by late Friday April 7.
For the week ended April 7, the price for ex-US high volume premium A hard coking coal increased $25-30/mt to approximately $230-240/mt FOB US East coast (USEC) while high volume B grade increased $15/mt to $180-185/mt FOB USEC.
According to sources, on April 10, prices for ex-US hard coking coal moved up an additional $25/mt across all grades and increased to $255-265/mt FOB USEC for premium and $205-210/mt FOB USEC for B grade as ex-Australian deals were being heard completed at higher prices.
Today, prices have leaped once again as US coking coal sellers are heard offering second quarter cargoes of premium hard coking coal at $300-305/mt FOB USEC and $240-255/mt FOB USEC for B grade coking coal. This price range reflects an increase of an additional $45/mt on premium hard coking coal and $35-45/mt on B grade coking coal.
The present FOB USEC price range translates to approximately $310-315/mt CFR Rotterdam for ex-US premium hard coking coal, with the US offer prices regaining their $10/mt price premium in the European market over Australian coking coal prices.