India’s metallurgical (met) coke import prices have continued to remain mostly stable over the past week amidst acute tightness in global supply that has resulted from persistently high Chinese demand and record strong steel prices and margins in Europe.
CoalMint assessed the blast furnace (BF) grade met coke, with 64% coke strength after reaction (CSR), at $442/t CNF India, up by $2/tonne (t) (0.5%) on a w-o-w basis.
The 62% CSR BF grade met coke price also increased by $2/t (0.5%) w-o-w to $401.00/t CNF India.
Indian domestic met coke prices for the 25-90-mm BF grades are currently ranging between INR 27,000-29,000/t along the country’s east and west coasts respectively.
However, Indian demand for seaborne met coke has remained largely subdued as most buyers refrained from making spot bookings amidst relatively softer domestic prices and ample material availability.
Moreover, the country’s domestic steel demand appears to have started to decline due to the onset of the monsoon season, coupled with ongoing restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese domestic met coke prices firm
China’s domestic metallurgical coke export market was broadly stable over the week, while prices were firm because of profitable steel margins and healthy domestic demand.
The coke production rate remained low due to the frequent high-emission checks and a shortage in domestic coking coal cargoes.
The export market for high-grade Chinese coke has been muted recently due to weak demand and supply. Only a few inquiries for low-grade coke from Asia were heard by coke traders in north China.
The latest price for domestic met coke with 12.5% ash in North China is assessed at CNY 2,730.00/t ($430.16/t), unchanged on the week.
Seaborne coking coal prices rise
Export prices for Australian premium hard coking coal had been rising since May, as Asian customers were actively seeking prompt loading cargoes amidst steel demand recovery. Furthermore, European contract buyers of US and Canadian coking coals were heard to be procuring Australian material instead.
Meanwhile, the major ex-Australian coking coal supplying nations – such as Russia, Canada and the United States – have solely been exporting to China as it is the best destination in terms of prices now.
Outlook
India-bound seaborne met coke prices are likely to stay at elevated levels in view of the supply tightness resulting from China’s absence from the Asian export market.
Indian coke buyers are largely expected to stay out of the seaborne market as domestic prices are comparatively lower than the international prices, which have driven Indian coke exports lately.
Meanwhile, outlook on Chinese met coke export prices is presently uncertain for the longer term as downstream demand is subject to steel mills’ buying interest following potentially rigorous environmental inspections, which had curtailed domestic coke supply in recent months.
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