Insight
Metallurgical coal: Can prices continue to defy the global turmoil?
*Please note that this report only includes an Excel data file if this is indicated in "What's included" below
Report summary
Metallurgical coal has avoided the worst of the global turmoil in commodity and asset pricing brought on by the Coronavirus. While not immune to the seismic shift undergoing most economies, we look at the reasons why met coal prices have been shielded from major falls to date, and whether we can expect the resilience to continue. There are more challenging days ahead no doubt, but we identify the almost total dominance of China's role in met coal pricing, and market illiquidity, as key to its persistent outperformance.
Table of contents
- Illiquidity has been working in metallurgical coal’s favour
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Chinese domestic coal supply is only just recovering to 2019 levels
- But some Chinese mills still can not get all the coals they usually prefer
- International coal exporters have problems of their own
- EAF production has borne the brunt of Chinese steel demand falls
- Can we expect metallurgical to continue to outperform?
Tables and charts
This report includes the following images and tables:
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Chinese coal mine utilisation ratesFinished steel stocks at steel mills (Mt)China coke capacity utilisation (%)
What's included
This report contains:
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