The price of FOB coking coal in Australia has risen slightly, and market expectations of tightness continue to grow. The FOB price of Australian high-quality low volatile (PLV) hard coking coal as assessed by Argus rose 50 cents per ton to $249 per ton, while the price of second-grade hard coking coal rose by $1 per ton to reach $211 per ton FOB Australia.
Trading activity remained sluggish throughout the week. However, market participants indicated that a major producer may be negotiating with buyers on high-quality volatile goods shipped in July, and a deal is expected early next week.
Market participants pointed out that the supply of spot goods is expected to be limited in July, and some traders are eager to secure new goods for the month, and prices are expected to rise.
Purchase interest remained moderate, but sellers, even those with shipments in June, were in no hurry to sell, several transaction sources indicated.
A Singapore-based trader pointed out that most trading companies in the market have the flexibility to sell goods at the port. There is still some demand, and end users are more inclined to buy in smaller quantities,” he added.
The price of high-quality hard coking coal to India rose 50 cents/ton to $267.20 CFR per ton, while the price of grade 2 rose by $1 per ton to reach $229.20 cfr east coast of India.
On May 31, the price of PLV coking coal to China rose by 1 US dollar per ton to reach 261 US dollars CFR per ton, while the price of grade 2 rose by 1 US dollar per ton to reach 228 US dollars per ton cfr in northern China.
In China, interest in buying maritime goods remains limited. An international trader pointed out that usually only larger steel mills can buy shipping goods, while smaller end users tend to buy domestically or from port inventory.
In the metallurgical coke sector, market participants hardly expect the first round of price increases to be implemented in the near future, and they expect prices to remain stable.
A coke supplier said that as long as coking coal prices remain stable at current levels, coke producers' profit margins will remain healthy.
(The above content comes from the latest opinion of Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)