COKING COAL DAILY: Seaborne premium prices flat; further price increases to come

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices were relatively steady on Friday September 25 with no transactions heard, however, market participants expect premium hard coking coal prices to increase gradually and higher hard coking coal and pulverized coal injection (PCI) prices in the cfr market.

Fastmarkets indices
Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.81 per tonne, down $0.05 per tonne
Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $143.49 per tonne, up $0.10 per tonne
Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $110.76 per tonne, unchanged
Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $121.12 per tonne, up $1.67 per tonne

No transactions were heard on Friday September 25, sources told Fastmarkets.

One trader source from China told Fastmarkets that he expects premium hard coking coal prices to gain further in future, however.

“After the National Golden Week holiday, some steel mills will stock seaborne coking coal for winter, which will support seaborne prices,” he explained.

A second trader source from the country said that seaborne premium hard coking coal prices had experienced a surge recently and will continue to grow but at a gradual rate.

Meanwhile, several market participants adjusted their estimates for hard coking coal and PCI prices in the cfr market given the recent growth in the premium hard coking coal cfr price.

Dalian Commodity Exchange
The most-traded January coking coal futures contract closed at 1,244 yuan ($182.24) per tonne on Friday, down by 14.50 yuan per tonne.

The most-traded January coke contract closed at 1,907.50 yuan per tonne, down by 16 yuan per tonne.