Seaborne metallurgical coke prices have continued to rise over the past two months on the back of a soaring demand from Chinese mills and the robust growth in overall Asian steel output.
In China, stringent environmental legislations – enacted to curb winter pollution – had significantly restricted met coke production, particularly in the northern parts of the country. This has in turn resulted in a price rally for the steelmaking raw material.
It is worth noting that China is the biggest exporter of metallurgical coke, accounting for around two-thirds of global seaborne spot supply.
Moreover, growing import demand for met coke supported by increased steel production in the Asian countries of India and Japan may further push seaborne coke prices already at a high.
Per the World Steel Association, global steel demand will reach 1,616.1 million metric tons (MMT) in 2018, up 1.8% from 2017.
The latest import offers for Chinese met coke with 64% coke strength after reaction (CSR) have gone up to around USD 361/MT FOB, higher by about USD 3/MT compared with the week-ago offers.
Similarly, offers for the 62% CSR met coke have risen by about USD 3/MT from last week, to around USD 351/MT FoB China.
For Indian buyers, these offers amount to USD 377/MT and USD 367/MT respectively on CNF basis.
Source: CoalMint Research
Nevertheless, met coke prices produced domestically in India have continued to remain unchanged from the rates that prevailed last week, though market analysts are projecting the prices to rise in accordance with the increasing import offers in the near term.
The current ex-works prices of the Blast Furnace grade are hovering around INR 26,000/MT (east coast) and in the range of INR 27,000 to 28,000/MT (west coast).
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