Premium hard coking coal spot prices drop $8 in November

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The value of premium Australian material has slid by about $8 per tonne cfr China since the start of the month.

Steel First’s cfr Jingtang premium hard coking coal index stood at $158.30 per tonne on November 1. Today, November 29, it was calculated at $150.32 per tonne.

The index showed a $0.79 increase from levels seen on Thursday, however.

Premium hard coking coal prices fob DBCT Australia were calculated at $140.78 per tonne, up by $0.84 per tonne from Thursday.

The price for hard coking coal cfr Jingtang stood at $140.88 per tonne on Friday, down by $0.09 per tonne from Thursday.

Hard coking coal fob DBCT was $128.84 per tonne, up by $0.04 per tonne on the day.

The past week has seen prices regain some stability. Levels are expected to hold steady for the time being, while both sellers and buyers remain on the sidelines.

Several trading sources suggested that there may be a small wave of restocking at ports before the Chinese New Year at the end of January, but a mill source said this would be unlikely as the tight credit situation towards the year-end leaves mills with little cash in hand.

Most market participants are still taking a wait-and-see stance. Prime hard coking coal from Liulin, in Shanxi province, was reported quoted at 1,100 yuan ($179) per tonne ex-works inclusive of VAT, up by 10 yuan ($2) from a week ago.

The most-traded May coking coal futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at 1,113 yuan ($182) per tonne on Friday, edging up from Thursday’s close of 1,112 yuan ($181) per tonne.

The most-traded May coke contract closed at 1,616 yuan ($264) per tonne on the same exchange, down by 1 yuan ($0.16) from the previous day’s close.