Seaborne coking coal market propped up by supply side concerns

Aurizon said on Monday it would “progressively make changes” from now until 2021 that will result in a possible loss of system throughput of “approximately 20 million tonnes annually.” These changes will involve “planned maintenance and capital works,” it said in its half-year report.

“This is no different to a cyclone event,” a supplier source said.

“Suppliers typically don’t get 100% of contracted trains but getting 80% is typical. However, from now on they may only get 60-70% of (contracted trains). This will result in around 2 million tonnes of coking coal out of the market per month, ” a trader source based in Australia said.

He added that traders may now “sit back on their cargoes” in order to get “$10-15 per tonne more.” 

Meanwhile, Canadian miner Teck Resources sold 6.4 million tonnes of steelmaking coal in the September-December quarter, down 7.25% year on year from a year earlier, it said in its unaudited quarterly report released February 14.

Teck expects to produce 26-27 million tonnes of steelmaking coal in 2018 and added that “global steel production and demand for steelmaking coal will continue to increase in 2018.” 

The most-traded May coking coal futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at 1,373.50 yuan ($216.60) per tonne during the day, up 9 yuan per tonne from Tuesday’s closing price.

The most-traded May coke contract closed at 2,141.50 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonne for the day.

Its fob Australia premium hard coking coal index jumped by $2.19 per tonne to $229.57 per tonne, while its hard coking coal index is flat at $187.51 per tonne.

Metal Bulletin’s cfr China indices are unchanged at $227.23 per tonne for its premium hard coking coal and $199.42 per tonne for its hard coking coal.

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