Chinese demand tepid, but supply constrained

摘要

Chinese market participants adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards purchasing met coal after they returned from the Golden Week holidays at the start of October. Current high price levels have offered little incentive to Chinese users, while the depreciation of the yuan against the US dollar dampened some import appetite, turning some end-users towards port stocks. Some buying activity took place in the second week of October across various segments of coking coal by end-users and traders. Premium low-vol hard coking coal prices averaged $199.08/mt FOB in September, up by $16.81/mt from the month before, but rose to $220/mt FOB by October 19 on stronger demand for low-vol material.