Prices for ex-Australia premium hard coking coal (PHCC) have dropped sharply this week as demand has been insufficient and sentiments have only worsened, pressuring sellers to cut offers. The market has not yet hit the bottom, according to sources.
An offer for 40,000 mt of mid-volatile PHCC was done at GlobalCoal at $288/mt FOB for May laycan on Wednesday, which is a notable drop from a deal done at $298/mt FOB on Monday and from the level of $305/mt FOB late last week. Moreover, a few offers have been done directly at $285-286/mt FOB, market sources said. An Indian mill has been holding a tender for the purchase of 40,000-70,000 mt of mid-volatile PHCC and market sources said that the deal price was $280/mt FOB, though the information has remained unconfirmed by the time of publication.
A few traders have said that the bearish moods and the falling Chinese market have resulted in bids going down to $270/mt FOB so far or even lower.
The import premium hard coking coal price in China has lost $15/mt since last week, coming to $290/mt CFR, based on negotiations for ex-US material. However, though some market sources said that there was some increase in inquiries from China to Australian exporters early this week, there has been no acceleration of trading. Local supply is limited, but sufficient, according to market sources, even despite the recent fatal accidents at two mines reported on Monday this week, which may again toughen mine inspections.
In the local coke market, the fifth coke price reduction has been sought, down by RMB 100-110/mt, following the previous correction in late February.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Australia PHCC has settled at $280-286/mt FOB, with the midpoint at $283/mt FOB, down by $9/mt from yesterday.