Reportedly, Australia’s suppliers of semi-soft coking coal have made an agreement with Japanese steel mills.
It’s known that the contract prices of semi-soft coking coal in the first quarter of 2011 have soared by 26% to reach US$180/ton in comparison of US$143/ton in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Japan’s traders said the contract prices of semi-soft coking coal were used to be lower than that of PCI coal; however, they were at the same price level now. Nevertheless, the new contract prices were accepted due to serious floods in Australia.
Meanwhile, Australia’s dealers indicated that the new contract prices were lower than their expectation as the harsh weather have continuously brought damage to the supply of coking coal.
(Source: www.yieh.com )