Seaborne coking coal prices edged down again this week – after remaining mostly stable and steady over the first three days – even with a resumption of fresh trading activities in the Chinese spot market.
In China, multiple deals for both low- and medium-volatile grades of Australian premium hard coking coal have been concluded in the last two days on CFR China-price basis with September laycan — clearly because, Chinese delivered seaborne coking coals are considerably cheaper than domestic coals at the moment.
But regardless of the recent trades reported in the CFR China market, it remains to be seen whether prices have bottomed out as yet.
During the first half of this week, however, the Chinese buyers had been largely staying away from the spot market; in the light of uncertainties surrounding ongoing restrictions at Chinese ports.
Meanwhile, Asian spot markets outside China continue exhibiting an overtly bearish momentum, in the midst of a perceived lack of buying interest observed across the continent’s major steel producing nations, namely India and Japan.
PRICE ASSESSMENTS
Latest offers for the Premium HCC grade are assessed at around USD 153.00/MT FOB Australia, lower by USD 2.93/MT than the average rate of USD 155.93/MT prevailing during the last seven-day period (13 Aug – 21 Aug’19).
Offers for the 64 Mid Vol HCC grade are assessed at around USD 137.20/MT FOB Australia.
For Indian buyers, the above offers amount to USD 169.00/MT and USD 153.20/MT respectively on CNF India basis.
Pulverized Coal Injection (PCI) & Semi Soft Coking Coal
| FOB Australia | CNF China | CNF India | |
| Low Vol PCI | 100.70 | 116.50 | 116.70 |
| Mid Tier PCI | 98.70 | 114.50 | 114.70 |
| Semi Soft | 84.20 | 100.00 | 100.20 |
N.B.: All prices are in USD/MT
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