September 01,
Japanese steelmakers have reached an agreement with mining giant BHP Billiton for a 7% cut in coking coal prices for the three-month period ending Dec. 31.
The price for high-quality coking coal has been set at $209/tonne for the October-December period, compared with $225 in the July-September quarter.
This is the first decline since the industry switched to setting prices quarterly in April, and reflected a slowdown in Chinese demand. Coking coal and Iron ore prices tend to be influenced by demand in China, which produces about half of the world’s steel.
Chinese steelmakers have curbed production to adjust inventories, but the slowdown in output is expected to be temporary, so it remained uncertain whether prices for steelmaking materials will continue to slide further.
Source: Reuters
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