Australia’s metallurgical coking coal exports rose above 13mn t in November for the first time in five months, on the back of firm Indian demand and increased shipping throughput. Exports increased by 9.4pc from October but fell by 5.4pc against a year earlier, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. Australia exported 8.65mn t of hard coking coal in November, up by 22pc from the previous month but down by 4.9pc from a year earlier.
Hard coking coal shipments to Australia’s largest buyer India rebounded from a month earlier on firm demand, along with increased shipping throughput in Queensland for November after a weak October. Collective coal shipments from Hay Point, Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, Abbot Point and Gladstone had increased by 5.5pc from the previous year and by 5.6pc against a month earlier to 17.3mn t. But weaker Japanese demand weighed on overall Australian hard coking coal exports.
The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal price averaged $319.58/t fob Australia in November, down by 9.5pc from the October average but up by 13pc from a year earlier. The Argus-assessed Australian premium low-volatile hard coking coal price was $335/t fob Australia on 10 January.
The average export price for Australian hard coking coal was $232.82/t in November, up by 5.4pc from October but down by 9.9pc against a year earlier. Prices were based on an Australian-US dollar exchange rate of 0.6648 used by the ABS for November, up by 4.8pc from October.
Semi-soft and pulverised coal injection (PCI) grade shipments were 4.37mn t in November, down by 6.3pc on a year earlier and down by 9.2pc from the previous month. Exports to Australia’s largest buyer Japan tumbled with demand weighed down by lower crude steel output. The average export price for Australian semi-soft coking coal was $213.06/t in November, up by 3.7pc from a month earlier but down by 15pc against the previous year.
The Argus-assessed PCI price averaged $189.46/t in November, down by 12pc from the previous month and falling by 30pc from a year earlier. The Argus low-volatile PCI price was $190.60/t fob Australia on 10 January.
| Australia coking coal exports (mn t) | |||||
| Nov ’23 | % ± vs Oct | % ± vs Nov ’22 | Jan-Nov | ± % Jan-Nov 2022 | |
| Hard coking coal | |||||
| China | 0.28 | 121.0 | N/A | 2.62 | N/A |
| Japan | 1.70 | 4.8 | -14.9 | 16.45 | -9.5 |
| South Korea | 0.67 | 70.6 | -47.1 | 9.70 | -12.4 |
| Taiwan | 0.36 | 53.8 | 35.7 | 4.34 | -10.7 |
| India | 3.17 | 45.8 | 7.9 | 29.52 | -7.1 |
| Vietnam | 0.35 | 36.5 | -13.7 | 4.59 | -19.9 |
| Total | 8.65 | 22.0 | -4.9 | 90.66 | -6.6 |
| Semi-soft and PCI coking coal | |||||
| China | 0.24 | -44.6 | N/A | 1.15 | N/A |
| Japan | 1.22 | -32.1 | -33.9 | 16.73 | -5.7 |
| South Korea | 0.95 | 42.7 | 28.8 | 7.95 | -11.5 |
| Taiwan | 0.26 | 135.4 | 45.8 | 3.18 | -14.6 |
| India | 0.75 | -11.5 | 20.8 | 8.70 | -6.2 |
| Vietnam | 0.23 | N/A | 59.0 | 0.91 | -61.0 |
| Total | 4.37 | -9.1 | -6.3 | 45.92 | -5.1 |
| Source: ABS, GTT | |||||
| Total includes all destinations not just those listed | |||||
