Seaborne coking coal indices dip, Chinese mills in ‘no rush’ to buy

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Steel First’s daily index for premium hard coking coal cfr Jingtang was calculated at $156.16 per tonne, down by $1.12 on the day.

Hard coking coal prices cfr Jingtang moved slightly higher and were calculated at $142.35 per tonne, up by $0.02 on the day.

Premium hard coking coal prices fob DBCT (Australia) were calculated at $141.97 per tonne on Monday, down by $0.55 from levels seen on Friday.

Hard coking coal fob DBCT was calculated at $126.68 fob per tonne, down by $0.33 per tonne on the day.

Market sentiment remained bearish, with low buying interest.

“Miners are not actively offering these days, and we’re not in a rush to buy either. Why would I buy anything now?” a Shanghai-based trading source told Steel First.

A trader in Beijing also said that sales at ports have not been good and that a winter restocking by the end of this month is unlikely.

An Australian producer source said that while he believed restocking would start shortly, he admitted that it may not be soon enough to have an effect on the quarterly negotiation for January-March next year.

“Traders in China are fully stocked,” he said.

European traders at the Carbon Forum event said that price sentiment among delegates was weak, with levels expected to soften further toward the end of the year.

A total of 5.09 million tonnes of coking coal was reportedly sitting at the Jingtang port on Monday, down from 5.13 million tonnes a week ago.

Rizhao port saw 2.08 million tonnes of inventory on Monday, up from 1.99 million tonnes reported last week.

The most-traded May coking coal contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at 1,116 yuan ($182) on Monday, down by 1 yuan ($0.16) per tonne from Friday’s close.

The most-traded May coke contract closed at 1,593 yuan ($260) on Monday, up by 8 yuan ($1.30) per tonne from Friday’s 1,585 yuan ($258) per tonne.