Indian delivered metallurgical coke prices have gained modestly over the past week despite limited spot trading and relatively tight availability, largely due to support from rising steel prices.
CoalMint currently assesses the spot price for the 64% CSR grade blast furnace met coke at $410/t CNF India, up by $4/t w-o-w.
The 62% CSR grade BF met coke is currently assessed at $364/t CNF India — up by $6/t w-o-w.
Chinese coke producers resist more price cuts as plants prepare to raise prices
In China, market sentiment in the domestic metallurgical coke segment turned positive as most sellers from Shanxi province increased their offer prices for all levels of hard coking coal by CNY 30-50/t in anticipation of supply tightness due to environmental inspections.
Coke plants refused anymore cuts and attempted to raise prices. Meanwhile, the acceptance of the first round of price upticks further boosted market expectations that prices are bound to recover although sellers showed no urgency to transact.
Notably, domestic coke producers in Hebei and Shandong had proposed for the first round of price uptick by CNY 100/t on April 2.
Previously, the eighth round of price cut by CNY 100/t materialized earlier on March 30 in major coke producing areas at Hebei and Shandong region, bringing the total price cuts to CNY 800/t since the beginning of February.
China-based domestic traders are now expected to start building coke stockpiles at port, and that demand will lend support to coke prices.
Healthy steel market fundamentals lend support to Indian coke prices
In the Indian domestic coke market, demand has not fully picked up as market conditions have not stabilized. However, the downstream steel demand recovery picked up pace on stronger construction activities. Strong domestic steel and coke prices may lend support to pre-monsoon restocking, as the monsoon season approaches in June-July.
Furthermore, the current profit margins in major Indian steel mills are decent, which may support the imported coking coal prices.
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edge lower on weak demand
Australian premium low-volatile (PLV) hard coking coal (HCC) FOB prices continued their descend on lower-priced deals amid ample availability in the Asian markets while China-based buyers waited on the sidelines owing to a lack of spot offers.
Presently, premium hard coking coal is cheaper on the back of the supply glut following China’s import ban from Australia, while semi soft and PCI prices are higher due to supply crunch in Australia.
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