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Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $107.45 per tonne, up $1.20 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $143.93 per tonne, up $4.46 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $95.03 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $112.51 per tonne, up $1.24 per tonne
A 75,000-tonne cargo of premium mid-volatility hard coking coal, with December 5-14 laycan, traded at $105 per tonne fob Australia on Friday November 6, Fastmarkets learned.
A cargo of hard coking coal from the United States was heard traded at $137 per tonne cfr China yesterday, but the laycan was unknown.
A trader source based in Australia heard that a cargo of premium hard coking coal from Canada traded at $148 per tonne cfr China earlier in the week, but the laycan was unknown.
Chinese steel mills maintained their focus on countries such as Canada for high quality coking coal because of the ongoing import restrictions on Australian coal.
“Miners from Canada and the US don’t produce as many volumes as their Australian counterparts and mainly rely on their long-term contracts so they don’t have much to offer in the spot market. As a result, there’s a premium that steel mills need to pay and the freight is relatively higher,” the trader source said to explain the rise in premium hard coking coal prices in the cfr market.
One trader source from India said that the market fundamentals have yet to change and the fob market has been quiet over the trading day.
“Premium hard coking coal prices in the fob market will drop without China buying,” the Indian trader said.
One buyer source from India told Fastmarkets that some Australian miners are offering premium low-volatility hard coking coal at a price lower than premium mid-vol hard coking coal in the fob market now.
“It’s $3 cheaper per tonne fob Australia because Indian steel mills prefer premium mid-vol hard coking coal over premium low-vol [hard coking coal],” the buyer source explained.
Dalian Commodity Exchange The most-traded January coking coal futures contract closed at 1,304 yuan ($196.78) per tonne on Friday, down by 2.50 yuan per tonne.
The most-traded January coke contract closed at 2,417.50 yuan per tonne, up by 71.50 yuan per tonne.