Covid-19 reverses coking coal’s 1Q gains

摘要

Seaborne coking coal prices surprisingly rose during the frst quarter of this year in contrast to most commodities, but the past three weeks have erased these gains, with Covid-19 slash- ing demand in major consumer regions Europe and India. The Argus premium hard low-volatile coking coal index rose by as much as 17pc to $163.70/t fob Australia on 3 March since the start of the year but has since fallen to around $136/t to give up all of its gains. Supply concerns provided the main price support, with heavy rains disrupting rail and port loading logistics in main supplier Queensland throughout much of the quarter.