Prices for seaborne coking coal sold to China are showing signs of softening amid weak end-user demand, with uncertainties related to import restrictions at some ports complicating the market further.
"Buyers in southern China are discouraged from buying due to obstacles attributed to port authorities. It is a long and tedious process for end users to get their coal imports cleared by customs, and current price levels for seaborne materials do not have any significant advantage over domestic market levels," a Chinese trading source told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 19. Elsewhere, in the northeastern region, a mill source said there was no incentive for it to buy seaborne cargoes...