Met Coke: Import Prices Subside on Muted Demand in India
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Chinese metallurgical coke export prices have decreased further this week under pressure from weakening demand in overseas market, while influx of met coke from other origins such as Japan and Korea intensified competition on prices.
As Japanese and Korean steel mills have curtailed production following the ongoing corona virus (Covid-19) outbreak, both the countries are witnessing significantly lower domestic demand for met coke and hence selling their surplus met coke to the Chinese market at hefty discounts, making it hard to export met coke from China at present.
In China, several coke plants issued notice on proposal to increase price by Yuan 50/mt. However, an impasse was expected to remain between coke producers and steel mills as steelmakers, particularly in the HRC segment, are still struggling with negative margins.
Chinese steel mills' appetite for met coke remains low as their finished steel sales have stalled amid the weak downstream demand. At the same time, the high finished steel stocks and the plunging steel margins may continue to compel steel mills to reduce output or halt production to conduct maintenance on facilities. Consequently, steelmakers are now buying met coke only when in urgent need and are trying to lower raw material buying prices to control cash flow.
Nevertheless, met coke prices held steady in the FOB market, wherein mixed views were observed on recovery of demand in the near term. A number of steelmakers opined that global demand might improve as several European countries announced plans to relax lockdowns policies.
PRICE ASSESSMENTS
Chinese metallurgical coke export prices for the 64% CSR and the 62% CSR grades are assessed at around USD 269.00/MT and USD 249.00/MT FOB China respectively.
Indian metallurgical coke import prices for the 64% CSR and the 62% CSR grades amount to USD 270.00/MT and USD 253.00/MT respectively on CNF India basis.
Source: CoalMint Research
