Despite the widely discussed possibility of supply tightness in Australia stemming from rainfall lately, weak demand for import coal in China has continued to weigh on the positions of foreign coal suppliers. During the week ending December 10, suppliers from Canada and Russia have been forced to decrease their offers significantly in order to attract any interest from buyers.
In particular, import quotations of premium hard coking coal from Canada and lower quality coal from Russia to China are at $344/mt and $270/mt CFR, down $18/mt and $30/mt compared to December 3, respectively.
Meanwhile, coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 2,560/mt ($402/mt) ex-warehouse, remaining stable compared to December 3, according to SteelOrbis’ data. Overall, coking plants’ sentiments have become better amid improving performances. With regard to future developments, coke prices in China may fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of Friday, December 10, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are at RMB 2,911/mt ($457/mt), rising by RMB 64/mt ($10/mt) or 2.25 percent compared to December 3.
$1 = RMB 6.3702
