Posted on 25 Mar 2024
Australian fob coking coal continued its downtrend amid another round of coke price cuts in China during the week ended 21 March.
Kallanish assessed premium hard coking coal at $245.22/tonne fob Australia, down $19.96/t from $265.18/t fob the previous week.
On the Singapore Exchange, Premium Coking Coal Futures for April settled at $248/t fob on Friday, declining $6/t from the settlement price of $254/t fob a week earlier.
According to a Singapore-based trader, a trader was heard to have paid $245/t fob Australia for 40,000t of Australian Premium Mid-Vol Goonyella for end-April/early-May laycan from a global miner.
Meanwhile, the trader bought another 40,000t of Goonyella for 25 April-4 May laycan at $245/t fob from the global miner on Friday. There were also bids heard at $233/t and $225/t for 75,000t of branded coal for April laycan on that day.
“The coking coal market is bearish due to overall poor demand,” says another Singapore-based trader. He foresees coking coal prices remaining weak amid poor sentiment.
Another Singapore-based trader also says the market is subdued due to the 6th round of Chinese coke price reductions agreed during the week. He foresees the 7th round could follow amid weak steel demand in the country.
Another Singapore-based trader, however, sees the coking coal market stabilising as some traders are looking to build some positions at current levels after the recent price correction.
According to him, India’s steel demand is relatively firm. Attention is focussed on the election with the Modi government likely to continue, which means a lot of infrastructure growth in the near term, he notes. “Coking coal demand from India remains firm with mills still going strong with production. Some maintenances are going on there but no big impact on the demand,” he adds.
He also sees Chinese market to bottoming out as the government focuses on job creation and economic growth after recent meetings.
Source:Kallanish
