Coking coal resumes dropping on unbalanced market

Coking coal resumes dropping on unbalanced market

Australia  / Coal

The downtrend resumed in the coking coal market this week after a slight increase seen in mid-September on still sufficient supply and negative short-term demand forecasts.No deals on FOB basis were registered for Australian premium hard coking coal this week, but offers fell by $6-7.5/t to around $142-145/t FOB for October delivery, insiders say.Several contracts were signed by Chinese customers on CFR basis, while Indian buyers were inactive recently. Two cargoes of Peak downs North brand material were sold at $139.5/t CFR and $145/t CFR for October delivery. Two more cargoes of Illawarra coal were both traded at $142/t CFR. Besides, two deals for low-vol- atile premium coal were done at $165/t CFR for October delivery and at $166/t CFR for November delivery. Last week, prices to China for hard coking coal were$169-170.5/t CFR.domestic coke prices in China remained unchanged for the second week in a row amid firm demand supported by high steel production. Coke inventories at steel mills were enough for 17 days of operations, the same as a week ago, according to Steel Home data.Australian coking coal exporters will keep cutting offers in the near future, insiders believe. “The market is still unbalanced though the demand in China is not bad.Besides, Chinese customers will leave the market in early October [for holidays],” a raw material trader told Metal   Expert.