Chinese metallurgical coke import offers remained relatively stable over the last week, as sellers held back concluding seaborne trades despite demand for coke cargoes from multiple international buyers because prices were not competitive to export when domestic prices were firm.
Chinese coke producers are heard worrying that the actual impact of winter cuts is yet to set in, and transportation could be an issue in the cold weather.
Market sources are suggesting that coke producers would wait till late this week to decide if they would propose to raise prices after considering steel mills’ demand and coke supply from winter cuts.
End-users have been expressing difficulty to accept any further uptick in domestic coke prices, with the declining profit margin.
PRICE ASSESSMENTS
The latest import offers for the 64% CSR met coke are assessed at around USD 393/MT FOB China, higher by about USD 5.75/MT than the average price of USD 387.25/MT in the week gone by (5-9 Nov’18).
Similarly, offers for the 62% CSR met coke have increased to around USD 385/MT FOB China.
For Indian buyers, these offers amount to USD 411/MT and USD 403/MT respectively on CNF India basis.
In India, the current ex-works prices of the blast furnace grade are assessed at around INR 29,000/MT (east coast) and between INR 28,000 and 29,000/MT (west coast).
Source: CoalMint Research
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