Australia’s June coking coal exports hit one-year high

Australia's coking coal shipments climbed to a one-year high in June, as producers ramped up output to secure targets ahead of the end of the July 2023-June 2024 fiscal year.

Total coking coal exports were 14.5mn t for the month, up from a revised 12.65mn t in May but 3.5pc below the 15.03mn t shipped in June 2023, according to data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) via GTT. Total exports in January-June were at76.32mn t,largely flat compared to the same period in 2023.

Hard coking coal exports totalled 9.74mn t in June, up from 8.56mn t in May, while January-June exports of 51.52mn t were a marginal 0.4pc lower than the same period in 2023.

Exports to China jumped by more than fivefold against the previous month to 0.88mn t and was more than 11 times that of volumes in June 2023.

Total semi-soft and pulverised coal injection (PCI) grade shipments were 4.77mn t in June, 16pc up from the previous month and 5.9pc above that recorded in June 2023. January-June exports of 24.72mn t rose by a marginal 1.5pc from the same period in 2023, as shipments to Indonesia more than doubled, offsetting lower shipments to major consuming regions including Japan and South Korea.

The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal price averaged $250.60/t fob Australia in June, up from $244.54/t in May. It fell back down to an average of $236.53/t in July and was last assessed at $215/t on 1 August.

The average export price for Australian hard coking coal was $220.56/t in June, up from a revised $215.98/t in May. Prices were based on an Australian-US dollar exchange rate of 0.6624 used by the ABS for June.

The average export price for Australian semi-soft coking coal was $187.24/t in June, up from $192.37/t in May.

The Argus-assessed PCI price averaged $179.79/t fob Australia in June, up from $162.78/t in May. It rose further to an average of $194.98/t in July, on the back of supply tightness and was last assessed at $188.75/t on 1 August.