Coal news and updates

Japan's coking coal imports fell in January after three consecutive months of gains as the Japanese economy slowed amid Covid-19 emergency measures, which particularly affected the manufacturing sector.

 

Japan imported 5.06mn t of coking coal in January, down by 10pc from December and by 21pc from a year earlier, according to finance ministry data.

 

Shipments from its largest supplier Australia decreased by 13pc from 2.84mn t in December and by 20pc from a year earlier to 2.46mn t in January. Japan's second Covid-19 state of emergency, which began last month, has adversely affected domestic crude steel production, with weaker steel demand from the manufacturing sector resulting in lower crude steel output.

 

The Argus spot price assessment for premium low-volatile hard coking coal averaged $122.76/t fob Australia in January, up by 20.2pc from $102.17/t in December. Seaborne coking coal prices surged from $103.65/t fob Australia at the start of the month to close at a peak of $157/t fob Australia on 29 January.

 

Japan's metallurgical coke imports fell by 27pc from December's record high of 119,412t to 86,595t in January. But imports in January increased by 183pc from a year earlier. Almost all of Japan's met coke imports came from China.

 

Source : https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news