Coal news and updates

Coking coal prices turn soft on lack of demand

December 4: Spot prices of coking coal in international markets continue to remain weak in the absence of demand, trading sources said.

"There is no demand as major buyers like China and India are practically off the spot market and miners have enough stocks to offer. Thus, prices are ruling soft," they said.

Incidentally, hard coking coal prices have fallen by about $11.00 per ton or about 7.48% in the past one month from a high of $147 per ton on November 4 to a low of about $136.50 per ton as on December 3, according to a compilation by ICMW.

"The situation is such that if someone bids at even $130 per ton for low vol. non-prime grade coking coal, the possibility is that he will get some offers," traders said.

Traders also said they have learnt that a leading miner is willing to sell low volatile coking coal at $132 per ton. However, the miner is not getting bids.

The current situation of softness in coking coal prices is likely to continue for some time as China is unlikely to be in the market in a big way while movements from India are also not that encouraging, they added.

"However, there may be a slight firmness in prices, if production is affected in Australia due to the heavy rains that generally take place in January in that country," they added.