Prices of China’s coking coal futures extended their decline on Monday, weighed by prospects of rising supply after production resumed following a deadly mine accident in coal-rich Shanxi and from growing imports.
The most-traded coking coal contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed daytime trade 1.39% lower at 1,275.5 yuan ($188.20) per metric ton. This is about 14% below the 1,486.5 yuan reached on June 8, the highest level since October 2024.
The most active DCE coke contract fell 0.49% to 2,015.5 yuan a ton.
As of June 17, around 63% of coal mines that suspended operations after the fatal mine accident in late May have resumed production, according to a survey by the consultancy Mysteel.
Also, China’s imports of coking coal in May surged 51% year-on-year while the year-to-date imports jumped 25%, customs data showed.
China’s imports of coking coal are set to rise further this year, traders said.
“The recent coking coal price slump is not because there was a dramatic change in fundamentals, but is reflective of the shift in focus among traders to production resumption from previous fears of supply shortage,” analysts at Galaxy Futures said in a note.
“Uncertainties still cloud the pace of production restart for other mines, and it would be hard to see output recover to the pre-accident level,” they added.
Iron ore prices drifted lower on Monday to more than three-month lows, dragged by remaining elevated portside inventories.
The most-traded DCE ore contract retreated 0.87% to 739.5 yuan a ton. It hit the weakest since February 24 at 739 yuan earlier in the session.
The benchmark July iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.24% lower at $98.4 a ton, as of 08:09 GMT after touching its lowest since March 4 at $98.15 earlier.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed. Rebar shed 0.22%, hot-rolled coil lost 0.39% while stainless steel advanced 0.6% and wire rod added 0.74%.
($1 = 6.7775 Chinese yuan)
(By Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Janane Venkatraman)
