Australia: Coking coal exports fall by 9% in Apr’22 amid elevated prices

Australian coking coal exports fell by 9% m-o-m to 12.3 million tonnes (mnt) in April 2022. The fall in exports is attributed to lower exports to South Korea, Vietnam and the Netherlands and Taiwan.

• Exports to South Korea witnessed a drop of 51% m-o-m in April.
• Exports to the Netherlands dropped by 65% m-o-m.
• Taiwan and Vietnam saw a drop of 57% and 87% m-o-m respectively.

The reason for the overall drop in exports can be attributed to subsiding of panic-buying (as Russia-Ukraine war situation eases) and elevated coking coal prices. Although prices have come down from its highs of $670/t, it was still at the higher level of $476/t in April, deterring buyers to make purchases.

Exports to India, Japan up

Interestingly, exports to India increased marginally by 3% while those to Japan went up by 11%. This was because Japanese mills, during the beginning of the financial year, have gotten into long-term contracts with the Australian suppliers considering the volatile market situation.

Portwise coking coal exports

Quantity in mnt

Interestingly, shipments from all Australian ports declined in April. Gladstone Port recorded the highest shipments but was still lower by 0.3 mnt from the previous month. Exports from Newcastle and Port Kemble dropped by 57% and 40% m-o-m.

With regards to company-wise exports from Gladstone Port, BMA was the largest exporter followed by Jellinbah and Anglo American Marketing.

While BMA is the only company that exported coking coal from Haypoint Port, South 32 used only Port Kemble.

Companywise coking coal export

Quantity in mnt

The largest coking coal exporter BMA recorded shipments at 4.7 mnt, up by a marginal 2% m-o-m. While exports by Anglo American Marketing and Hail Creek Cc were up by 44% and 75% m-o-m respectively. Coronado’s exports fell by 42% in April.

Outlook

Australian coking coal exports are likely to remain rangebound in the near term with a small regional or countrywise fluctuation. Demand from major buyers like India and Japan will remain high as supplies from Australia improve.