Indian met coke prices unchanged w-o-w amid limited demand

Indian met coke prices remained largely stable at INR 33,000/t ex Jajpur last week. Buying interest by major mills is on the lower side.

India's met coal imports in July 2023 dropped to 0.23 million tonnes (mnt), as per CoalMint data. Imports dropped sharply by nearly 56% m-o-m compared to 0.52 mnt in June 2023. In fact, imports dropped to monthly average levels in July after the sharp hike in June.

India's met coke production increased by 9% m-o-m to 4.33 mnt in July as against 3.97 mnt in June, according to data maintained with CoalMint.

Out of total production, merchant met coke output was 0.53 mnt, up significantly m-o-m, while captive production stood at 3.88 mnt, up 3% m-o-m.

Coking coal offers

Australian premium hard coking coal (PHCC) prices were stable at $246.5/t FOB on 9 August. The impact of monsoons may disturb the restocking timeline of some of Indian end users. Supply for September loading cargoes may improve with Australian miners starting to release more cargoes. There seems to be consistent demand from India driven by post-monsoon bookings.

Imported coke prices

Chinese met coke producers announced the fourth round of price hike of RMB 100/t ($14/t) d-o-d on 4 August amid low met coke inventory with mills and weather disruptions. Effective prices of met coke in Hebei's Tangshan are assessed at RMB 2,160 ($301/t). Mills are restocking coke which seems to be supporting the fifth round of price uptick. However, negative mill margins are expected to weigh on prices. Chinese met coke prices are at $334/t CNF Hazira.

Pig iron market

Indian pig iron prices have dropped marginally w-o-w. Pig iron prices were recorded at INR 40,200/t yesterday as against INR 40,300/t last week. Prices have dropped by INR 300/t d-o-d.

Outlook

The met coke market is not expected to see any significant drop in prices amid declining margins and the rise in imported offers is likely to inhibit any further slide in domestic met coke prices.