Australian fob coking coal prices plunged during the week ended 10 November, dragged by weak market sentiment. 

Kallanish assessed premium hard coking coal at $294.09/tonne fob Australia, plummeting $39.88/t from $333.97/t fob the previous week.

On the Singapore Exchange, Premium Coking Coal Futures for December settled at $300/t fob on Friday, falling $16.33/t from $316.33/t fob a weak earlier.

According to traders, a Japanese steel manufacturer is heard to have bought 40,000 tonnes of premium low-vol Oaky North on Tuesday for 11-20 December laycan at $330/t fob.

On the same day, an Indian steelmaker is heard to have concluded 40,000t of BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA)'s Australian premium mid-vol (PMV) Goonyella C blend for 5-14 December laycan at $318/t fob from a Chinese trader. There is a brand optionality of Riverside at the same price for the deal.

On Thursday, it was heard that an Indian buyer bought 40,000t of PMV for December laycan at $296.5/t fob.

Citing globalCoal, a trader also reveals that a deal was done on Friday at $297/t for 40,000t of HCCA branded coking coal for December laycan.

“Demand is poor, the steel market is down, India is on holidays, the market is correcting,” a Singapore-based trader says of the long list of negative factors impacting the market. “At the moment, all things are slowing down,” he adds.

Another Singapore-based trader also opines that the market is correcting following the recent surge. However, he foresees the market rebounding as buying interest may emerge following the correction.

According to an Indian steelmaker, current coking coal prices are still deemed high for end-users. He sees low demand from India as most Indian mills are well covered. “We expect coking coal prices to be around $250-270/t levels which are reasonable and affordable,” he notes.

Meanwhile, a China-based analyst says the recent stimulus measures announced by the Chinese government are having limited impact on coking coal demand. According to him, international demand for coking coal has turned weak as Indian demand has decreased.

However, he says, the market expectation of more stimulus measures from the Chinese government may support coking coal prices.