China mining restrictions loom, coking coal price stable

Exclusive

27 February 2017

China is once again planning to restrict coal mining in the country like last year. The country is planning to put restrictions on number of days and mined output in some provinces and local consumption (or area based) consumption in some other areas. It is not confirmed yet but market participants are already preparing for the worst and expecting the prices to rise even higher than last year if such restrictions are imposed any time soon.

China has recently banned imports of coal from North Korea and also reduced imports from two of its major north eastern ports to cut down on pollution.

These moves were expected to spike the coal pricing sharply but due to the weakness in steel market, the increase is well in control. Coking coal has remained unchanged at week closing at $172 per tonne CFR (premium low vol) and week on week it has moved up by $2-3 per tonne.

Thermal coal in the country originating from South Africa has moved up by $1.35 per tonne to $83.35 per tonne at week closing.