Coking Coal Offers Decline Below USD 150/MT on Weak Demand

The Coking Coal market in Australia is without much activity as buying by Chinese steel makers has come to a standstill due to the holidays in China due to the Dragon festival. The prices have thus receded remarkably due to the absence of adequate demand.

The latest offer for the Premium HCC is reported at USD 145/MT FoB Australia, significantly lower by USD 11/MT than the rate reported the week last. The recent offer for the 64 Mid Vol HCC is reported at USD 135/MT, remarkably lower by USD 11/MT over the week-ago rate.

Source: CoalMint Research

For Indian buyers, these offers translate into: USD 155/MT and USD 145/MT respectively on CFR India basis.

However, demand from Indian steel makers is visible as they are importing to stock the coal in addition to their regular needs. The spurt in import tendency among Indian steel makers is not expected to last long as the buyers are going to lower their imports of the coal once the stocking of inventories is over, some market participants speculate.

Moreover, a Coking Coal offer from Canada was heard at USD 166/MT CFR India.

IMPORTS

Coking Coal imports have moved into India vigorously as demand was strong. During the 1-26 May'17 period, a substantial volume of around 3.6 MnT of Coking Coal was imported into India, data collected by CoalMint Research shows. Given the prevailing demand, the imports into India are expected to go up further.