Asian seaborne coking coal market quiet on uncertain outlook

Asian seaborne hard coking coal spot prices were largely unchanged on Friday April 11, with market participants unsure about the market’s near-term outlook.

April 11, 2014

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Steel First’s premium hard coking coal index for material sold on a cfr Jingtang basis was calculated at $122.59 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged

The premium hard coking coal index fob Australia’s DBCT port was unchanged at $110.18 per tonne.

The cfr hard coking coal index stood at $111.72 per tonne on Friday. The fob value was $100.76 per tonne, unchanged day-on-day.

“I don’t think the market will continue to rise much because both domestic and port prices remain competitive,” a trading source told Steel First.

Several other sources said that while sales activity at ports had seen a bit of an uptick recently, prices had not risen.

The most-traded September coking coal futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at 876 yuan ($142) per tonne, down from Thursday’s close of 884 yuan ($143) per tonne.

The most-traded September coke contract closed slightly higher at 1,253 yuan ($203) per tonne, compared with the previous close of 1,250 yuan ($202) per tonne.

The yuan prices are the equivalent of cfr prices plus 17% VAT and port charges of about 35 yuan ($6) per tonne.