Chinese prices of seaborne metallurgical coal were generally stable over July 6-10, as the market cooled last week when fewer bid and offer activities were observed, according to sources.
On July 10, Mysteel’s imported coal price for premium low-volatile coking coal was unchanged on week at $127.5/tonne CFR North China. Also unchanged was the price of domestically mined low sulphur (0.6% maximum) premium coking coal at Yuan 1,286.9/t including the 13% VAT, or equivalent to $162.7/t excluding the tax, Mysteel assessed.
The robust inquiries for seaborne met coal that domestic end-users had been issuing since late June lost steam last week, according to an industry watcher based in Shanghai who suggested that the sudden cooling of buying interest was a reaction to the decline in domestic coke prices.
Last week, major domestic steelmakers announced their intention to trim Yuan 50/t off their coke procurement prices, as reported. As this was the mills’ first attempt to push down coke prices since late April, the adjustment was quickly materialized, Mysteel Global noted. As of July 10, Mysteel’s national composite coke price had softened from the previous 10-month high of Yuan 1,917.6/t on July 3 to Yuan 1,885.4/t including the 13% VAT.
Reported maintenance work at several major coal operations last week led offers for seaborne met coal cargoes, particularly those with July laycans, to decline notably too, according to Mysteel’s weekly report. Through July 6-10, only one deal for seaborne coal was concluded, Mysteel monitored.
As for coking coal port stocks, the volumes sitting at the five major Chinese ports under Mysteel’s weekly survey slid by 60,000 tonnes or 1% on week to 5.4 million tonnes as of July 9. Jingtang port in North China’s Hebei province remained the port handling the largest volume of imported coal among the sampled ports last week, as its stocks totalled 3.2 million tonnes as of last Thursday, albeit 100,000 tonnes or 3% lower on week, data showed.
In line with domestic coal prices, prices of imported coking coal at Chinese ports remained stable last week. Among them, the price for Australian coking coal with 10.5% ash, 21% volatile matter and 0.6% sulphur was unchanged on week at Yuan 1,340/t at Jingtang port, Mysteel assessed.
Source: Mysteel Global
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