Posted on 10 Jan 2023
Seaborne coking coal prices continued to rise during the week ended 6 January, 2023. The possibility that China may resume coal imports from Australia fuelled sentiment.
Kallanish assessed premium hard coking coal at $313.91/tonne fob Australia, up $10.79/t from $303.12/t the previous week.
On the Singapore Exchange, Premium Coking Coal Futures for February settled at $312.33 on Friday. This versus January futures price settlement of $289.5/t fob a week earlier.
According to a trader, a deal was done at $302/t for 35,000t of HCCLV coal (Peak Downs or Saraji) for February laycan on 4 Jan.
Meanwhile, global coal miner Anglo American sold 50,000t of Moranbah North for late Feb-early March laycan at $315/t fob on 5 Jan. The cargo is linked with another 30,000t of coking coal with a slight premium to prevailing indices.
He also reveals that global miner BHP sold 80,000t of Goonyella/ Goonyella C/ Riverside for 4-13 Feb laycan at $316.33/t fob on 5 Jan. The buyer is heard to be Winsway.
According to traders, speculation that China may resume coal imports from Australia has boosted the coking coal market.
“Traders pushing up the market, taking every cargo. So end users will have no choice but to buy from them at a high price,” says a trader.
Another trader opines that if China resumes coal imports from Australia, this will have a significant impact on the market. Thus, he expects coking coal prices to trend higher.
Another trader notes that only traders can bid so aggressively now and end users cannot match them.
“As traders picked up cargoes at $315-$316/t, they will push for higher numbers. Whether achievable or not is another story,” he adds.
An analyst says the market is bullish as China may reopen its doors to Australian coal and Chinese demand is expected to grow.
“It seems like premium low-volatile (PLV) fob Australia is closing the gap with PLV cfr China,” he says. He also notes that Chinese interest in United States/Canadian coal will definitely be weaker because of longer lead times.
Reuters reported that China has allowed three central government-backed utilities and its top steelmaker, Baowu Group, to resume coal imports from Australia, ending the unofficial ban on coal trade with Australia in 2020.
According to the report, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) had summoned China Datang Corp, China Huaneng Group, China Energy Investment Corporation and China Baowu Steel Group to discuss the resumption of coal imports from Australia.
Source:Kallanish
