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Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $102.24 per tonne, up $0.78 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $188.42 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $91.72 per tonne, down $1.84 per tonne Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $171.38 per tonne, up $4.94 per tonne
Late on Thursday December 17, a 45,000-tonne cargo of premium mid-volatility hard coking coal, with January 20-29 laycan, was traded at $103 per tonne fob Australia.
On the same day, a 30,000-tonne cargo of premium low-volatility hard coking coal, with the same laycan, was traded at $101 per tonne fob Australia, sources told Fastmarkets.
With Australian coal excluded from China’s imports, the choice of seaborne premium hard coking coal became limited. Chinese steel mills can only opt for higher-priced premium hard coking coal from countries such as the United States and Canada, sources said.
An east China-based steel mill source estimated premium low-vol hard coking coal and premium mid-vol hard coking coal at around $190 and $182 per tonne cfr China respectively.
“Seaborne premium mid-vol hard coking coal is not as irreplaceable as premium low-vol hard coking coal because we can procure the former from domestic miners. So the price gap between them is still relatively large,” the source explained.
Several sources, however, said that the price gap between premium low-vol and premium mid-vol hard coking coal is smaller now because there are not many alternatives in the market.
A trader source from China said that Russian low-vol PCI had been traded at $125 per tonne cfr China and as a result, the low vol PCI cfr index jumped to $122.50 per tonne.
Early on Monday December 14, a Chinese steel mill procured a mini-capesize cargo of US-origin Buchanan with early February laycan at $170 per tonne cfr China. Later on, the offer price for Buchanan material was over $175 per tonne cfr China, sources heard.
This Wednesday, a cargo of Coppabella material was traded at $77 per tonne fob Australia, sources told Fastmarkets on December 18
“The fob market is going nowhere and prices are relatively weak currently,” a trader source from India said.
Dalian Commodity Exchange The most-traded May coking coal futures contract closed at 1,613 yuan ($246.81) per tonne on Friday, up by 45.50 yuan per tonne.
The most-traded May coke contract closed at 2,661 yuan per tonne, up by 73.50 yuan per tonne.