COKING COAL DAILY: PCI prices jump, supported by high coking coal prices

Low-volatility pulverized coal injection (PCI) prices in both the fob and cfr market jumped following price gains in coking coal the week to Friday August 27. And a shortage of railway wagons in Russia has delayed the transport of PCI to China, sources said.

August 27, 2021

By Min Li

China India

Fastmarkets indices
Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $408.51 per tonne, down $0.42 per tonne

Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $385.67 per tonne, unchanged

Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $248.90 per tonne, up by $4.92 per tonne

Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $212.40 per tonne, up by $4.50 per tonne

Fastmarkets weekly PCI indices
PCI low-vol, cfr Jingtang: $ 218.49 per tonne, up by $16.24 per tonne

PCI low-vol, fob DBCT: $200.30 per tonne, up $38.44 per tonne

A 750,000-tonne cargo of premium hard coking coal in the HCCLV brand segment was traded at $248 per tonne fob Australia on Friday, sources told Fastmarkets.

The new deal pushed the premium hard coking coal price to over $245 per tonne fob Australia, with the hard coking coal fob price also following the uptrend, sources in Singapore and India said.

Fastmarkets’ weekly index for PCI low-vol, fob DBCT soared upward on Friday, by over $30 per tonne in one week.

“It’s partly caused by the increases on premium hard coking coal and hard coking coal prices, which gave supports to PCI prices,” a trading source in Singapore said. “Moreover, there is limited supply in the spot market.”

In the fob market, premium hard coking coal and hard coking coal prices were relatively flat with no deals heard.

But Fastmarkets’ weekly index for PCI low-vol, cfr Jingtang jumped to $218.49 per tonne on Friday.

Railway transport in Russia has not been smooth in the week to August 27.

“It’s due to the shortage of railway wagons for PCI. I haven’t heard any transactions of Russian PCI in the spot market this week,” a trading source in Beijing said, referring to the week to August 27. The source added that the increase in the PCI cfr price was related to the rise in hard coking coal prices over the week.

Another trading source in Beijing said that the delivery of Russian PCI in long-term contracts was delayed because the railway wagons for PCI were allocated to other usages.

Dalian Commodity Exchange
The most-traded January coking coal futures contract closed at 2,523 yuan ($389.16) per tonne on Friday, down by 13.50 yuan per tonne.

The most-traded January coke contract closed at 3,164.50 yuan per tonne, down by 51 yuan per tonne.