Chinese steelmakers' continued appetite for higher grades of hard coking coal contributed to a rise in coking coal spot prices into the country Friday.
Platts increased its Chinese import price for mid-vol HCC by $3/mt to $191/mt CFR North China. Both the Australian export price and India's import price were unchanged at $180/mt FOB Hay Point and $203/mt CFR Paradip. Platts specification is currently seen as having a discount of around $15/mt compared
to top quality low-vol high CSR hard coking coals.
Traders continued to report an increase in the number of enquiries out of China. Steel prices there have risen in recent weeks, driven upwards mainly by
mills seeking better profit margins, sources said.
China's lower domestic coking coal prices limited appetite for imports to certain grades which could not be obtained locally, mainly low vol, high CSR
coals. "China is ready to pay high numbers for some specific brands," a trader
said.
In recent days, there has been talk of new spot transactions into China as high as $230/mt CFR, but these could not substantiated. There has also been reports of premium HCC from Canada trading at close to $190/mt CFR.
A source at a major Chinese mill Friday said an "acceptable" price for low vol high CSR coal such as Anglo American's German Creek was $205/mt CFR,or around $188/mt FOB.
In India, indicative bid levels were higher at around $195-200/mt FOB for a part-cargo, but a trader said buyers were hesitant to purchase new spot cargoes before HCC quarterly contract negotiations for October-December.
Negotiations are expected to be concluded in the next two weeks or so.
Platts increased its Chinese import price for mid-vol HCC by $3/mt to $191/mt CFR North China. Both the Australian export price and India's import price were unchanged at $180/mt FOB Hay Point and $203/mt CFR Paradip. Platts specification is currently seen as having a discount of around $15/mt compared
to top quality low-vol high CSR hard coking coals.
Traders continued to report an increase in the number of enquiries out of China. Steel prices there have risen in recent weeks, driven upwards mainly by
mills seeking better profit margins, sources said.
China's lower domestic coking coal prices limited appetite for imports to certain grades which could not be obtained locally, mainly low vol, high CSR
coals. "China is ready to pay high numbers for some specific brands," a trader
said.
In recent days, there has been talk of new spot transactions into China as high as $230/mt CFR, but these could not substantiated. There has also been reports of premium HCC from Canada trading at close to $190/mt CFR.
A source at a major Chinese mill Friday said an "acceptable" price for low vol high CSR coal such as Anglo American's German Creek was $205/mt CFR,or around $188/mt FOB.
In India, indicative bid levels were higher at around $195-200/mt FOB for a part-cargo, but a trader said buyers were hesitant to purchase new spot cargoes before HCC quarterly contract negotiations for October-December.
Negotiations are expected to be concluded in the next two weeks or so.
