Australian Coking Coal Import Offers to India remain weak and may slide further by nearly USD 2/MT, said importers
Australian Hard Coking Coal import offers to Indian steelmakers/traders are around USD 88-89/MT FOB Australia, for May end shipment. Freight charges for supramax vessel stands close to USD 14-15/MT with 17-18 days of arrival time.
Premium HCC and semi-hard Coking coal offers are around USD 91-92/MT FOB Australia and USD 81-82/MT for May end shipment.
India’s steel capacity is not being operated at rated capacity in contrast to the mining, which is growing at a faster rate. Thus, the supply and demand gap remains a concern.
India imported 45.4 MnT Coking coal in FY15 in contrast to 39.5 MnT in FY14. In Apr’15, 3.3 MnT Coking coal was imported in comparison to 4.1 MnT in Mar’15.
Coal miners are stuck between high fixed costs provided they cut down production and cut throat competition in prices. Coking coal prices are already depressed and are foreseen to remain stable in the upcoming quarters.
Further price decline will force miners to close down operations or lower output. On the other side, prices may go up if demand improves.
Imports of Coal from US is not workable with high freight rates at nearly USD 25/MT. Any reduction in prices by around USD 10/MT shall possibly give some room for imports to India.
Prices in USD/MT FOB Australia
Quantity (in MT) Imported to India
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