India’s metallurgical (met) coke import prices underwent a moderate uptick this week, amidst continued tightness in global supply resulting from persistently high demand in China.
Prolonged shortages of both domestic and imported coking coal in China coupled with stringent environmental and safety regulations have affected the country’s met coke production, escalating demand and prices. Inevitably, this has translated into higher met coke imports by Chinese steel mills.
Notably, Chinese domestic met coke prices have surged by as much as 71% since the beginning of the year; while met coke exports from China have plunged by 91% y-o-y to 2.15 mn t during Jan-Jul’20, as per latest data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.
China Met Coke Exports — Country-wise
| Country | Jan-Jul’21 | Jan-Jul’20 | Change Y-o-Y |
| Japan | 1,240,526 | 134,140 | -824.80% |
| Indonesia | 594,780 | 459,052 | -29.57% |
| India | 428,720 | 202,984 | -111.21% |
| Malaysia | 412,738 | 536,457 | 23.06% |
| Vietnam | 294,052 | 144,797 | -103.08% |
| Brazil | 243,813 | 162,013 | -50.49% |
| Italy | 159,057 | 0 | |
| Turkey | 155,205 | 0 | |
| South Korea | 137,915 | 127,204 | -8.42% |
| Australia | 112,999 | 78,082 | -44.72% |
| Taiwan | 74,206 | ||
| Iran | 37,113 | ||
| Others | 324,824 | 192,548 | -68.70% |
| TOTAL | 4,104,629 | 2,148,596 | -91.04% |
Quantity in tonnes (t)
Following China’s unofficial ban on Australian coals, coking coal and met coke supplies from other Asian economies – Japan, Poland, Indonesia and South Korea – are meeting the increased import demands from China. Simultaneously, however, this has resulted in global supply tightness for met coke, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, eventually leading to a consistent rally in international met coke prices over the past couple of months.
- CoalMint assessed Japan-origin blast furnace (BF) grade met coke, with 64% coke strength after reaction (CSR), at $572/tonne (t) CNF India, up by $23/t (4.2%) on a weekly basis.
- The 62% CSR BF grade met coke price also increased by $23/t (4.4%) w-o-w to $540/t CNF India.
- The latest prices of domestic met coke, with 12.5% ash content, in North China are assessed at CNY 4,310/t ($676.13/t), up by CNY 150/t ($25.99/t) w-o-w.
Indian met coke imports fall 32% m-o-m in Aug’21
Indian demand for seaborne met coke has remained largely subdued in recent months as most buyers refrained from importing spot material due to relatively softer domestic prices and ample material availability within the country.
India’s met coke imports dropped by 32% m-o-m to 0.17 mn t in Aug’21 from 0.26 mn t in Jul’21.
Meanwhile, relatively competitive coking coal import prices from Australia lured Indian merchant met coke producers to increase output through optimum capacity utilisation of their coking plants, thereby allowing them to export the material, after catering to the domestic demand.
Colombian nut coke exports to India back on track
India-bound supplies of Colombian ultra-low phosphorus (ULP) nut coke – mostly consumed by ferro chrome producers – have resumed after a temporary halt amid supply concerns in Colombia. The material is being quoted in the range of $520-530/t CNF India, as confirmed by a major trading source.
Outlook
India-delivered seaborne met coke prices are likely to stay at elevated levels and even rise exponentially in line with the global met coke price surge, resulting from the absence of China from the export market.
Moreover, with the recent steady rise in Australia-originated coking coal prices, it is largely anticipated that Indian landed prices of met coke might see further increases.
Indian met coke buyers are expected to curtail their import bookings and rely on lower-priced domestic materials instead.
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