Ex-Australia premium hard coking coal (PHCC) prices have been fluctuating in a very limited range for the second week in a row, as suppliers have been holding offers at high levels with a rather limited allocation for January shipments. At the same time, buyers in the major destinations - in China and India - have still been looking for discounts, so trading has been limited this week.
Among the rare deals this week was a sale of 40,000 mt of low-volatile PHCC from Australia at $209/mt CFR for December laycan. This price translates to around $201/mt FOB, slightly below the previous deal level of $203/mt FOB. However, since the laycan is very close, and most other bids from buyers have been lower, this deal has failed to clarify the price trend. Moreover, market sources still say that Chinese buyers may secure cheaper Mongolian and Russian coal, plus inventories at ports have been high and so import activities for Australian PHCC may remain reduced.
Bids at the GlobalCoal platform early this week were at $200/mt FOB and $203/mt FOB, both for mid-volatile PHCC, for January shipment. But offers were at $210-215/mt FOB for January and $205/mt FOB for February. Market sources said that, given miners’ resistance and weak demand, the market is going to remain stable for some time, but negative sentiments still prevail.
In particular, Indian steel mills are evaluating the market price at $195-198/mt FOB at the moment. Offers for December shipment to India have been reported at $220/mt CFR, which translates to near $205/mt FOB, excluding freight.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Australia PHCC has settled at $201/mt FOB, down by $2/mt.